Brothers and Doppelgangers
by Wyndes
Summary: Relatives and weddings go together like peanut butter and jelly. Or maybe more like thunder and lightning?
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: I do not, of course, own Eureka or any of its characters but this is now the fifth story of an alternate Eureka time-line and really, you'll just be confused if you haven't read the others. They are: _Better Late Than Never, An Australian Werewolf in Eureka, The B.O.U.S. Problem, _and _The Buccaneers of Buzz.

_I tried to write a quick soap-opera digest style summary of what happened in those stories, but it got complicated fast. The shortest possible version is that Jo and Zane are now engaged and the time-travelers are no longer in danger of being sanctioned. _

_And speaking of complicated - my outline for this story is rather insanely layered, and yet still not fully detailed, so I'm not sure how this is going to go. But I find reviews extremely motivating, so please do R&R. Without the positive feedback, I'm likely to spend my time reading textbooks and writing research papers and getting As in all my classes…hmm, what an idea. _

**Chapter One**

The phone rang and Jo grabbed it quickly, glancing at the clock on her kitchen wall rather than at the caller ID. It was just a little after seven, and the second time the phone had rung this morning. Her dad must be calling back. Well, she had sprung a lot on him in that first conversation. He'd probably finally gotten over the shock enough to think of some questions.

"Hey, big sis!"

"Rob!" Jo almost spilled the coffee she'd just poured. "Isn't it the middle of the night where you are?"

"So I hear you're getting married."

"How did Dad find you so fast? I swear, I hung up the phone not twenty minutes ago!"

"Oh, you know Dad. He has his ways. Tell me about the man who thinks he's going to marry my sister. How come you haven't mentioned him before?" The phone line was a little static-y, but considering that Jo's brother Rob was probably half the planet away from Eureka, the connection was remarkably clear - clear enough that Jo could hear the skepticism in his voice.

She grinned at the phone, wishing they had a video connection, so she could actually see him. It had been weeks since she'd spoken to Rob, the oldest of her three brothers. They exchanged emails as often as possible, and sometimes, when he was lucky enough to be in a secure location, chatted over IM for hours, but phone calls were few and far between, and the best were when they could use video-conferencing. At that, she spoke to him the most of all of them: Nick and Marco, the twins, were in Special Forces in Afghanistan and if she could reach them once every few months she considered herself lucky.

"You'll like him," Jo promised her brother, finally answering his question. Briefly, she wondered if that was true: her family kind of had a thing for military discipline and Zane was not exactly the disciplined type.

"What about Taggart?"

"You know that ended. That was months and months ago." Jo crossed her fingers, hoping that was true. She never actually had found out the details of her relationship with Taggart, but her dad had asked the same question, so obviously she'd talked about him during the time they'd been together. She wondered if her relatives had ever met Taggart, and whether she'd kept their age-difference a secret.

"Yeah, but - I don't know, isn't this awfully fast?"

"Ooh, the protective brother. This is why I never managed to date in high school. The little-brother gauntlet was too much for every guy I met. But I'm a big girl now, Rob. You don't have to worry. I'm really happy."

"Well, I'm coming to see for myself."

"What?" Jo's eyebrows shot up in surprise. None of her relatives had ever visited Eureka. At least not to her knowledge. It would be nice if she could find out whether they had in this time-line, discreetly. Although the time-travelers no longer had to worry about being sanctioned, they were doing their best to reveal their secret to as few people as possible. At this point, the original six, Grace, Beverly, Zane, Zane's mom, and the president of the United States knew…but they were hoping to stop the story there.

"Dad is, too. We agreed. We both have a little leave coming up. I was going to spend mine in Paris, but I'd rather meet this guy."

Jo bit her lip, although a smile was tugging at her cheeks. "You're picking me over Paris? I'm so flattered."

"Don't be. I'm worried. Did you just meet him?"

"No, of course not." She glanced at the stairs. Zane was still asleep in the bedroom upstairs, sprawled across the bed in a tangled mess of sheets and blankets. Some things had changed between time-lines, but the fact that she woke up faster than he did was not one of them.

Nor was the fact that he was a covers-thief. But unlike the old time-line, where they'd spent months in sleepy tugs-of-war over the blankets before she adapted, she already knew to just snuggle closer and let his body heat keep her warm. It was only one of the ways in which a relationship that should have been very new really wasn't.

"He's been in Eureka for a couple of years. We've known each other for a while."

"You've never mentioned him before. Wait - Zane - what's his last name?"

Jo grimaced. _Uh-oh._ Sometimes this time-line thing was so hard. What people knew or didn't know was just endlessly confusing. "Donovan," she replied, and although she tried to control her voice, she knew that her pitch had gone higher at the end.

"Donovan? Zane is Zane Donovan? Does Dad know that?" Rob's voice was a mix of amused and exasperated. "I do know - I can't believe - okay, six weeks. I'm making my travel arrangements right now. Well, no, I'll make them as soon as the rest of the world wakes up."

"Six weeks?" Jo's voice definitely squeaked on that. "You're coming here in six weeks? Both you and Dad?"

"Yep. Although once I tell Dad who this guy is, he might be on your doorstep a lot sooner than that."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Half asleep, Zane tried to bury himself a little deeper in the covers. Why were his feet cold? And what was that tickling him? Irritably, he twitched his foot away, but the tickle followed.

Mornings, bah. Zane hated waking up. Except lately…hmm, lately, waking up had been kind of nice. One hand reached out and explored the bed next to him. It was cold and empty. That was enough of an impetus that he forced his eyes open. Well, one of them, at least. Squinting out of a barely-open left eye, he looked for Jo, and then looked for the clock.

"It's Sunday, isn't it?" he mumbled.

"Sure is." God, he loved her voice. It was so smooth, so assured.

"So why are we awake at seven-thirty?" he asked, closing his eye again, and pulling his foot firmly away from where she was tickling it.

"Well, I'm awake because I'm always awake at this hour, but you're awake because my dad called." The bed compressed and shook as Jo flopped down next to him.

"Mmm, better," he murmured, as he slipped his arm around her and pulled her closer, putting one leg over hers.

"Ha, that's what you think now. Let me repeat, my dad called."

Zane forced his eyes open. "And?" In the weeks that he and Jo had been together, she'd spoken to her father more than once. Their relationship was a lot like his with his mother: although they didn't see one another often (in part because Jo's dad was still active-duty military), they tried to talk weekly to at least touch base.

"I told him." Her voice was gloomy, more gloomy than her words warranted.

Zane paused. He yawned. For a moment, he tried to bury his face deeper in his pillow, even while his arm and leg tightened over Jo. "I think I might need coffee for this." The words were smothered, but distinct.

"On the bedside table."

He pushed himself upright. Reaching for the coffee, he looked over at Jo. She was staring up at the ceiling, her expression thoughtful.

"I read your personnel file, you know. There was a lot of stupid stuff, pranks, nothing serious."

"Yeah?"

"But you always got caught, and you always got in trouble. For everything."

"You loved busting me. You busted me tons of times." Zane smiled at Jo over the edge of the coffee cup, as he took a sip.

"I talked about you, too," she stopped staring at the ceiling, and rolled over on her side, propping herself up on one elbow. "Turns out that Donovan - said as a curse word - is a familiar name to my family."

"Uh-oh," Zane made his next sip a lot bigger, before setting the cup on the table, and sliding down in the bed so that he was facing Jo. She must have been awake for a while. She was wearing her work-out clothes, a tight gray t-shirt with faded lettering and leggings, and her hair was already tied back. Reaching up, he pulled at the elastic, tugging it free so that her hair fell in a dark silky curtain around her shoulders.

"Yeah," she smiled at him, her brown eyes crinkling in amusement. "I think I should have stuck to my plan of slowly introducing them to the idea that we were a couple."

He raised an eyebrow. "You didn't?"

She shook her head, mouth compressing with a mix of regret and amusement. "My dad asked why I sounded so happy, and I…well, it just slipped out."

Zane paused. "So should I be worrying about shotguns?"

"Oh, please," Jo scoffed. "Like anyone in my family would be so old-fashioned." Zane had just a brief moment to feel a little relief, before she went on. "No. Tasers, maybe. And actually, there's a 12-gauge extended range electronic projectile that Taser makes that can be fired from a shotgun." She sat up, crossing her legs, her eyes alight with the glow of a fanatic discussing her favorite interest. "It's fin-stabilized and delivers a twenty-second burst of energy - that's about four times longer than a standard taser. Plus it's got an effective range of about 30 meters, so 100 feet."

Zane groaned, falling back against the pillows. "Okay, you're making me glad that your family is all overseas."

"Oh, yeah, about that…" Jo let her voice trail off.

"About that?" he prompted.

"My dad and my brother Rob are coming to visit."

"Coming to visit or coming to kill me?" Zane wasn't seriously worried, but he had to admit to being just a little nervous about meeting her family. Even seeing his grandmother's ring on Jo's finger didn't stop him from wondering whether he was going to wake up soon, and discover that the Enforcer was back and that this was all just some weird hallucination.

Since the day he'd woken up in her jail cell, Jo had been the unattainable dream. He'd flirted with every eligible woman in Eureka, dated quite a few of them, and spent the night with more than one or two, but had always known, even when he wouldn't admit it to himself, that being arrested by Jo was far more important to him than the most romantic dinner or passionate sex with someone else.

Every once in a while, he'd stayed out of trouble for a few weeks, even a month or so, usually because he was too engrossed with work to bother. But then he'd discover that Jo wasn't watching him anymore, and promptly do something to make her furious, because having a furious Jo near him was better, enormously better, than not seeing her at all, or worse, having her ignore him. And having a happy Jo near him? Better yet, an in-love-with-him Jo in bed with him? Well, that was infinitely better, and he didn't want to do anything, take any chance, that might jeopardize it. If Jo's relatives hated him, what would she do? How would she react?

"They wouldn't kill you. No, no, they're coming to meet you."

"They're coming to meet me?" Zane pushed himself up until he was sitting, and rubbed his hand over his face. Okay, was he awake or was this just a weird dream? He reached for the coffee again.

"I told them we were getting married," Jo admitted.

Zane choked out a laugh. "But you were the one who wanted to keep it a secret! You said nobody could know, then put your ring on and let the whole town know. And you said you'd tell your family in several months, when they'd gotten used to the idea that we were dating. You hadn't even told your dad my name yet!"

"I told him I was seeing someone a couple weeks ago," Jo offered weakly, before she too started to laugh. "I actually can keep a secret, just not this one I guess."

Coffee cup halfway to his lips, Zane paused. "Are they both going to be here at the same time?"

Jo nodded. "I think so. That's what Rob said, anyway."

"Well, two out of four's pretty good. And Rob's the brother closest in age to you, right? We should have the wedding while they're here." Zane wasn't a genius for nothing: once that wedding ring was on Jo's Italian-Catholic finger, her relatives could hate him all they wanted. He'd still get to live happily ever after with his dream girl.

_A/N: If this were an episode, the producers would probably be yelling at me, saying, where's the action? It can't all be back story! I'll get there, really. I'm just torn between two competing desires - wanting to write the wedding, because really, how fun will that be? - and wanting to make it remotely plausible that they would actually be getting married this soon. _


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: A true story clarification, just to clear up any confusion: If I was writing the television show - and I so wish I was, because how much fun would that be? - these scenes would be minor subplots in episodes filled with Eureka-style madness. There would be at least one section five explosion, some random scientist would die, Fargo would be terrified about Mansfield being brusque, and Carter would be the star of the show. Since I'm not writing the show, though, (and also, I admit, because I'm pretty much just a total Jo/Zane shipper), use your imaginations on all that for the moment. The next scene will set up the oncoming disaster, and then the "typical Eureka plot" (is there such a thing?) will be happening about five weeks from now (in story time, not real time, I hope). _

**Chapter Three **

"You're crazy. Weddings are a ton of work."

"But I'm serious. Neither one of us would be inviting many people outside of Eureka, right? Our families, okay, but apart from them, our lives are here." Zane had been trying to convince Jo that his idea was good all morning. He'd managed to move her from laughing and walking out of the room to at least thinking about it, but that was about as far as he'd gotten.

Jo thought about who she'd want to invite to her wedding. It was true that she'd mostly lost touch with friends from her pre-Eureka days. When everything interesting that happened in your life was classified, conversations and letters tended to be either filled with awkward silence or boringly superficial.

Zane pulled the door to Café Diem open, and waved Jo in ahead of him. Frowning, she entered. The restaurant was crowded, but then it was Sunday brunch, one of Vincent's peak times. She glanced around for a table, but seeing that they were all full, crossed to the counter.

"Vincent, you'll cater our wedding reception, right?" Zane didn't even bother saying hello, just jumped right into the topic foremost on his mind.

Vincent's jaw dropped, before he began spluttering an excited acceptance. "Of course, I will. I'd be crushed if you let anyone else do it."

Carter swiveled on a nearby stool, as Alison leaned forward, smiling. "Does that mean you've set a date?"

"No," Jo said firmly, glaring at Zane.

"Working on it," he said cheerfully, playfully tugging her ponytail as he slid into the seat next to hers. "So we don't need to do fancy invitations. We can keep those simple. And people won't need lots of notice," he continued the conversation they'd been having outside.

"Zane, we'd need a church, and a minister, and a place to have the reception…and flowers, and music, and a dress, and…you're totally insane. We can't plan a wedding in six weeks!"

"Six weeks?" Carter asked. "That's when Zoe comes home for spring break. Why are you thinking about having the wedding then?"

"My father and my brother are coming to visit," Jo replied. She glanced at Vincent, who was working at the espresso machine. "You've never met them, right, Vincent?"

"No, I can't say as I have," he shook his head, as he pushed a Vinspresso her way. "Have they been to Eureka before?"

"So it would be a great opportunity to have the wedding," Zane jumped in, saving Jo from answering Vincent's question, as she took a sip of her coffee, smiling slightly. If her relatives had ever visited, Vincent would know about it. The only thing Vincent knew more about than food was the residents of Eureka. "They might not get leave again at the same time for years. We should grab the chance."

Jo glanced at Carter. He was frowning slightly, and she wondered if he'd just had the same thought she had. Their eyes met, and she knew he had. Her family had been lucky. So far. To a military family with members on active-duty in a war zone, time should never be taken for granted. If she refused to have the wedding, holding out for some ideal future date and months of planning, and something happened to Rob or her dad, she'd never forgive herself.

"I'd be happy to help you with the planning," Alison offered. "It would still be too cold to have an outdoor wedding, but the spa has a lovely conference space that's hardly ever used in the middle of winter. We could check to see if it's available." She pulled out her phone and started texting.

"Oh, there's a nice kitchen up there," Vincent chimed in. "Six weeks isn't a lot of time, but it would no problem for me, I can easily arrange for the food. And I have a phenomenal wedding cake recipe for you: it's a cappuccino torte. Vanilla chiffon cake, soaked with espresso and layered with a cappuccino cream. You'll love it."

"A coffee wedding cake? How perfect," joked Carter. "I'm sure Zoe would be delighted to be a bridesmaid."

"We could do a modified buffet," Vincent's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, as he considered menu options. "Start with appetizers, and then have several food stations around the room - it's a great way to keep people mingling." He pulled out a notepad from his pocket and started scribbling notes to himself.

"The spa's available on Friday evening that week. Ooh, and they will have just finished up with a vintner's convention: if you want to have a vineyard theme, they'll keep the decorations up for you," Alison reported.

"A vineyard theme?" Vincent's eyes lit up. "Italian food! We can do a Tuscany-based menu. Bruschetta, antipasto, stuffed mushrooms, prosciutto and melon, calamari…" he was scribbling faster and faster. "Oh, and have you heard the band that Dr. Pyke put together? They're very good. Lots of covers, but they'd be great for a wedding."

"Whoa, whoa, this is-" Jo put a restraining hand up, trying to get a pause in the planning. Turning to Zane, she said plaintively, "What's your rush? You're the one who should want to take it slow." She was thinking, of course, about the fact that she'd already spent years dating Zane - her first Zane, anyway - but to him, they'd only been together for several weeks. But then glancing at Vincent, she hastily added, "Guys are supposed to be commitment-phobes. You're not supposed to want to get married."

"I don't want to get married," Zane shrugged.

Jo just blinked at him, lips parting in protest. _What? _She felt her breath stop in her chest as she struggled to make meaning out of his words, and although she felt numb with shock, she knew that any second she was going to hurt with a pain so deep it might swallow her whole.

"I just want to be married," he continued. "To you. I don't care about the wedding, I just want to get to the part where I get to come home to you every night and wake up with you every morning." His eyes were dark, his voice serious, and he spoke as if they were the only two people in the room, instead of sitting at the counter of Café Diem with half the town within earshot.

Jo felt her mouth drop open and her cheeks flush. _Had that been insanely romantic or was it just her? _She looked around them: Alison's smile was so wide it looked as if it might split her face and Vincent had put his hand over his heart with undisguised fascination. Carter was smiling, too, and when Jo caught his glance, he shrugged slightly and raised his eyebrows at her. _Okay, not just her._

"Okay, then," Jo said slowly. "Six weeks it is."


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: I think this story has a sound track. Try youtube__.com/watch?v=gnr0iVnZFQ8__ (or, if fanfiction strips that out, search on youtube for NeverShoutNever's Happy). _

_Thanks for all the nice reviews. They make me happy! _

**Chapter Four **

Henry and Grace had arrived with Reverend Harper in the post-church rush, and Reverend Harper had confirmed both that she'd be delighted to perform the ceremony and that the church was available on the Friday night in question. In a wry aside to Zane, she'd asked if that meant that they might see him more often on Sunday mornings, to which he'd mumbled something politely noncommittal. Personally, he was grateful for the early morning service Jo usually went to - it saved discussion of the whole thing since he was usually asleep when she left and at most barely awake when she came back.

Now Henry and Carter were talking music at the counter, while Grace and Alison had moved to a table to compare notes on décor and wedding favors. Vincent was managing the morning chaos with his usual aplomb, except that every now and then he'd pause, pull out his notepad, and scribble down some new thought about appetizers. Jo was in a quiet corner, talking on her phone with Zoe. She'd asked Zoe to be her bridesmaid and Zoe had eagerly accepted; they were now deep into a discussion of dress styles.

Zane had called his mom's private line and spoken to a patient operator. He was waiting for a call back when Fargo walked in, head bent over his tablet. As the bell over the door jingled, Fargo looked up, spotted Zane, and said, his voice filled with excitement. "Great news!"

"Uh, thanks?" Zane offered, wondering how Fargo had heard already. "How did you know?

Looking around the restaurant with a confused expression, Fargo said, "What's going on here? And how did you hear already?"

That explained that. "Ah, we must have different great news," Zane grinned. "Jo and I are getting married."

"Um, congratulations?" Fargo sounded perplexed. He crossed to the counter and slid onto the stool between Carter and Zane. "Isn't that old news?"

"No, I mean Jo and I are having the wedding. Six weeks from now."

"Six weeks from now? But - but you can't. No, no, no, that'll never work." Fargo was shaking his head, horrified.

"Fargo,"Carter said reprovingly, frowning at him.

Zane was almost too taken aback to respond. Since he'd learned about the time travel, he and Fargo had been developing a kind of wary friendship. Used as he was to Director Fargo, the tin-pot dictator, it was unexpected, but this new-and-improved Fargo was, well, new and improved. But his objecting to the wedding didn't fit. It didn't make any sense.

"No, it's just - " Fargo shook his head. "Let me start again. Back to my great news. Actually it was kind of a good news, bad news sort of thing. But I'll start with the good part. Zane, Mansfield took your rough mag-lev proposal back to DC with him. The congressional budgeting oversight committee meets in six weeks, and the DoD is trying to get you $500 million in funding."

"Five hundred million?" Carter spluttered out his coffee.

"That's fantastic, Zane! With real funding to explore the idea, you could change the shape of transportation in America!" Henry understood the implications immediately.

"Mansfield supported my proposal?" Zane was shocked by the first part of Fargo's statement: the second part hadn't even sunk in yet.

Fargo sort of shrugged. "I think he was too scared of your mom not to, actually."

"What kind of proposal is this?" Carter asked. He was still looking stunned by the dollar signs.

"It's for a magnetic-levitation transportation system. It uses superconductors to create electrical currents that flow without resistance. The balance between Meissner effects and flux trapping effects means that you can effectively levitate systems, like a monorail, only instead of being on a rail the train would float," Zane started.

"Monorails on ice," offered Henry. "The limitation has always been the cooling system, because you need to reach a superconducting critical temperature."

"Yes, but when I was unconscious, back when that bee stung me, Jo was telling me about this black ice with striations, and I asked Henry about it afterwards.* That ice could form the basis of a -" Zane paused, because Carter was looking blank. With a friendly laugh, Zane patted his arm, and said, "Don't worry about it. Just - it's a really cool idea that would take a ton of money to fully develop."

Turning back to Fargo, he said, "That's incredible that they're interested. That's, wow -" he was shaking his head, almost speechless with delight.

"But that was the good news. The bad news is that you have to have a completed proposal and a working prototype ready by Monday of that week."

"Ready by - in six weeks? That's insane!"

Fargo nodded, face anxious. "Kind of, yeah. I'll give you any resources you need. We can bump other projects, pull people in. I'll do anything I can. But what you'll need most is time, and I can't give you that."

Zane stared at him and then looked across the room to Jo. She was still focused on her conversation with Zoe, flushed with happiness and laughing. She was more beautiful than ever, and he felt a rush of warmth for her. If he had realized that Jo happy would be so incredible, he might have spent the past few years working on making her smile instead of just making her pay attention to him. But now that he knew better - he really, really didn't want to do anything that would make her lose that look.

Just then his phone rang. He glanced down at the caller ID. It was the return call from his mom. "We'll figure it out," he said to Fargo. "But I need to take this call." He flipped open his phone, and answered.

"Zane?" His mother's warm, contralto voice sounded a little breathless, almost as if she'd been running or walking fast. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's great. Jo and I decided on a date for the wedding." The room was loud, and Zane put one hand over his non-phone ear, trying to block out some of the sound.

"Oh, terrific, I'm delighted to hear it. Hey, before we get into that, can you just quick tell me that algorithm you like for breaking the password-protection on a Linux system?"

"Um, sure. Would it be easier for me to text it?"

"No, no, if you can just tell me what it is. This line I'm on won't take texts."

"Okay." He recited a few lines of code for her, and she recited them back as she typed. Zane took few steps closer to the door, trying to hear what she was saying. She sounded less breathless now, but her voice was still quiet.

"Thanks, hon. Now tell me about the wedding. That's such exciting news."

"Well, it's going to be soon. Jo's father and brother are coming to Eureka in six weeks, so we're going to have the wedding on the Friday at the end of that week. Will you be able to make it?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world. And your father will be there, too." Zane stepped outside, still trying to make it easier to hear her.

"Oh, you know, if he's busy, it's really not a problem if he can't make it," Zane hastily offered, walking a little way down the street.

"Zane, are you planning your wedding on short notice on purpose so that your father won't be able to be there?" His mother's voice was suspicious. He could easily picture the narrowed-eye glare on her face.

"No, not at all!" Zane defended himself, but he was smirking. He hadn't thought of it, but it'd sure be a nice side benefit.

"Well, good," Diana said. "Really, I know you two don't get along, but you're an adult now. You need to let go of some of those old feelings and figure out how to forgive him - oh, hello." Zane could tell by the change in her voice that she was talking to someone else.

"Oh, yes, so sorry," she went on, her voice filled with a contrite, laughing charm. "Yes, I know it's a private office, I just needed a quiet space for a private phone call, and the door was open, I hope it wasn't - " There was a gasp of breath, and then two loud thumps. "Sorry about that."

"Mom?" Zane questioned, not sure who she was apologizing to. "Did you just knock someone out?"

"Mmm, well, yes."

"Without even dropping the phone?"

"Oh, it's an earpiece, dear. Hands-free. Very convenient," his mother sounded a little breathless, but otherwise quite calm. "He's going to have a headache tomorrow, poor boy. I'm afraid I'm running a little late here. I didn't expect a Linux system, so I wasted some time - ah, but there we go. Your algorithm was very helpful."

"Ah, glad I could be of assistance," Zane couldn't decide whether he should be worried or not.

"So the wedding," Diana returned to the more interesting subject. "I believe it's the groom's family's responsibility to host the rehearsal dinner. I'll try to get to Eureka a few days early so that I can make arrangements for that. How big will the wedding party be?"

"Um…"

"Even for a small wedding, Jo will want at least a maid of honor, and you'll need a best man, and then your family and her family."

Best man. Ugh. Zane hadn't even considered that.

Andy walked by, nodding and saying cheerfully, "Good morning, Mr. Donovan." Zane responded automatically, then turned to watch him go, eyes thoughtful. Hmm. He'd just gotten an idea.

"Doesn't Jo have more than one brother?" His mother was still talking.

"Yes, she does. Three of them. They're all active-duty military." For the next couple of minutes, Zane and his mother discussed Jo's family, but Zane only had half his attention on the conversation, the other half still considering his idea, until he was abruptly pulled back by the sounds in the background of the call.

"Mom, are those gunshots?"

"Could be, dear, yes," she sounded breathless again. "So I'll work on that wedding present for you - I don't think it should be a problem - and I'll try to get to Eureka by at least Tuesday of the wedding week."

"Do you need to get out of there?" Zane really, really wanted to know if people were shooting at his mother.

"Working on it, sweetheart. But it might, in fact, be a good time for me to be a little quieter, so why don't we finish this later? I'll call you at our usual time? And congratulations again. I really like your Jo, and I'm so looking forward to the wedding. Love you."

"Love you, too, Mom. Be careful." Zane hung up the phone, shaking his head ruefully. But almost immediately he turned his attention back to the door of Café Diem. He loved his mom, but if he started worrying about her it could become a full-time job. Better he think about his own problems. And this idea, it could work.

Entering the restaurant, he saw that Jo had finished her conversation with Zoe and was sitting next to Fargo, talking to him with a worried expression on her face. She looked up at Zane and started to speak, but before she could say anything, he put a finger on her lips. "It'll be fine," he said to her. "I can make it work."

"Are you sure?" she asked him. "We don't have to have the wedding then."

Turning to Fargo, Zane asked, "Anything I need?"

"Whatever you need," Fargo confirmed. "But you're going to be working around the clock."

Zane shook his head. "I'll make it work. I need to borrow Dr. Calvin's latest project, and I need Grace's PTSD device. Oh, and I need you to be my best man."

"I - uh, I - I - um, well, sure," Fargo looked completely startled, but as the idea sunk in, the corners of his mouth were twitching with delight. "Does that mean I get to plan your bachelor party?"

"Yep," Zane grinned.

"No strippers," Jo ordered, pointing at Fargo. "No exotic dancers. In fact, no women at all would be best."

_* Fuckity, fuck, fuck, fuck is what I said out loud while writing today when I realized that a crucial (although minor) element of my plot hadn't happened to this Zane. ARGH! Yes, timeline changes are endlessly confusing, aren't they? I think I've written that about five times over this series! _

_Fortunately, my last story comes in to save me - if you did not read (or don't remember) Buccaneers of Buzz, Zane is stung by a killer bee and while unconscious Jo tells him stories of their past life together. And don't I look clever for having her do that now? (HA! Not! If you do recall the story, you'll remember that I didn't even want Jo to do that - she insisted. But I am grateful to her now. Whew!) _


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N I believe I promised a couple chapters ago that the real action would start in Chapter Five, five weeks in the future. Apparently, I - um - lied. I don't know why this chapter needed to get written but I guess I needed just a teeny-tiny bit more back story. I thought about not posting it since it doesn't move the story forward, but it amused me, so I hope it amuses you, too. Thanks for reading and reviewing! _

**Chapter Five**

"But - but he stole three million dollars!"

"He didn't keep it."

"He's a hacker. He crashed the New York Stock Exchange!"

"I'll make him promise to use his powers only for good in the future." Jo wondered whether Zane would make that promise. And if he'd be able to keep it if he did. Maybe if she included 'satisfying curiosity' in her definition of good?

"He turned all your office furniture upside down and attached it to the ceiling!"

Jo raised her eyebrows. His personnel record hadn't included that one. She hoped that meant that she'd gotten her revenge unofficially with a Taser.

Her father continued without waiting for her to respond. "He made asteroids float through the rotunda to celebrate Galileo's birthday!"

"Martha kind of enjoyed the obstacle course," Jo replied mildly.

"He made that Harry Potter thing appear above the building when the last book came out!"

"The dark mark?" Jo answered. "Yeah, he likes Harry Potter for some reason."

"But no one could get rid of it. It was there for weeks. You complained every time we talked!"

"Well, it was annoying," she conceded. At least she assumed it must have been. She was having a tough time not laughing. Her father was bordering on apoplectic but her happiness was like an invincible shield protecting her from his dismay.

"You've called him a snarky jerk more times than I can count!"

"Well, he is a snarky jerk." Zane, who was washing their dinner dishes at the kitchen sink, turned his head at that one and gave her a look. "Sometimes," she hastily added.

It was Sunday evening and after their brunch at Café Diem, he'd gone to GD to start working on his project, while Jo sat with Alison and Vincent and made lists. And more lists. And more lists. She'd had no idea how complicated weddings could be: the items she'd rattled off that morning - church and minister and flowers and dress - turned out to be only the tip of the iceberg.

But they'd met back at the house for dinner, and afterward Jo had called her father to tell him about the wedding. She'd known it was going to be a challenging conversation, but she hadn't quite realized exactly how much she'd shared with him over the years.

Hmm, she could try the strategy that worked so well with Zane's mom.

"He's also cute, charming, and very, very smart. Your grandchildren are likely to be brilliant." Zane grinned at her.

There was a silence on the other end of the phone. Jo waited. Finally her father said grumpily, "My grandchildren would be perfect no matter what."

Jo rolled her eyes and shook her head. Zane raised an eyebrow, and, covering the mouth of the phone, she whispered to him, "Grandfathers are apparently not as susceptible to the idea of grandchildren."

On the phone, her father, voice serious, said to her, "Josefina, I do not think this is a good idea."

"Daddy," Jo replied patiently, "I love him, and I'm really happy, and I'm going to marry him in six weeks and five days."

Her father sighed. "Rob and I are meeting up in DC and then flying into Portland. We'll rent a car, spend the night in Portland, and then drive to Eureka in the morning. We'll get there in six weeks and one day - which gives us four to change your mind."

* * *

_A little later_:

"But Fargo?" Jo was talking through a mouthful of toothpaste, so the words came out a little muffled, but still perfectly clear.

"Are we really still having this conversation?"

Jo spit out the toothpaste. "I'm just worried. Aren't people going to think it's suspicious? I think you've kind of missed the point of the best man." She picked up the floss.

"Arranges a bachelor party, hangs onto the ring, makes a toast at the reception. No, I think I've got it covered." Zane was moving around in the bedroom.

"Um, best friend usually falls in there somewhere. And you and Fargo - well, not exactly best friends."

"Don't worry about it."

"I can't seem to stop myself. I mean, Fargo? Really?" She stood in the doorway of the bathroom, looking across the bedroom at Zane.

He sighed. "If you're going to keep me awake, I can think of much better ways to be spending our time."

"I just want to understand." She frowned at him, trying to look stern, but an unruly tendril of warmth was starting to curl through her stomach. He was really damn cute. And he was hers. All hers. A smile started to pull at the corners of her mouth but she bit it back. "Tell you what. You explain it to me and I…" She reached up and pulled her hair tie out of her hair, shaking it out and letting the long ponytail fall around her shoulders, "…will rock your world."

She slid one finger under the strap of her spaghetti-strap tank top and let it slide delicately down her shoulder. "But," she cautioned him, narrowing her eyes, "I want the truth."

Zane choked out a laugh. "The truth?" She could see him considering what to tell her.

"I can tell that there's something you're not saying."

"It's really not a big deal." His words were casual, but his eyes were serious and his face thoughtful.

"Good, so you won't mind telling me." Jo began somewhat ostentatiously playing with the ties of the flannel pajama bottoms she wore. Zane laughed, and crossed the room toward her, but she pulled back, putting a hand on his chest. "Truth-telling first, world-rocking after."

"Truth-telling, okay." He shrugged. "Do you remember saying that we didn't fit because I never let you forget how much smarter I am?"

Jo's hand stilled. "Yes, but-"

"I know," he said hastily. "It was the other Zane." He grinned at her. "Or you figured out how to cope once you remembered that you can kick my butt. Either way, it's okay. But I've never fit anywhere. My mom loves me but my dad wanted a different kind of kid, and never missed the opportunity to say so."

Jo bit her lip and slid both hands up his chest. She hadn't ever really thought about what it felt like to be Zane. She'd always felt that in a town full of geniuses it was the normal people who didn't fit in. But maybe feeling different was hard for everyone.

"My whole life I've always been the smartest person in the room. Except when I'm in a room with Henry. And - maybe - " he shrugged.

Jo's mouth dropped open as she realized what Zane was saying. "You think Fargo's smarter than you?"

"Not smarter. Just - as smart as. Maybe. And I'm definitely a better hacker," Zane said hastily. Jo was starting to smile, and Zane continued. "Do you know how hard scientists work to get to Eureka? You've seen the crazy things they do to try to stay here. Me, I got sent here instead of going to prison. A lot of them don't ever forget that. And it's not the criminal part, it's that I got what they wanted without trying. Fargo doesn't care. So despite the fact that he's often a pompous, annoying, petty…"

Jo put her hand over his mouth to shut him up. "I get it. You're friends, even though it doesn't look like it."

He shrugged. "Yeah, kind of. Besides, he throws a mean party. I can't imagine what he'll do for a bachelor party."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six **

_Six weeks later_

Jo tapped her foot, sighed, glanced at her watch again. Could this elevator be any slower? She had more to do today than she could possibly fit into any one single day and this particular errand had her fuming.

Finally the elevator stopped, the door opened, and Jo stepped out one of the lower levels of GD, the one that was housing that lab that Zane was using to work on his magnetic-levitation super cooling system. She strode forward. It was Sunday, so GD was largely deserted but she could hear sounds of banging coming from the lab in front of her so Zane was definitely here. Not that that was a surprise: he'd been here more or less 24/7 for the last month.

As the door slid open, she stepped inside, glancing around. The room was a mess of tangled piping and tracks, but the sounds of banging were coming from an upraised black box more or less in the center of the room, and Zane's denim-covered legs were sticking out from underneath it.

"Zane, I need to talk to you." Crossing her arms over her chest, Jo waited. There was no response. She sighed. He probably had headphones on. He liked to work with music and was practically addicted to Pandora, the internet radio station.*

Walking over to his legs, she considered her options. In a kindlier mood, she would have crouched down next to him and put a hand on his leg, disturbing his concentration gently. As it was, she kicked his leg, although not nearly as hard as she could have, and shouted, "Hey."

She felt stupid just a second later when a guy who was not Zane rolled out from under the box and looked up at her in surprise. "Oh, I'm so sorry," she stumbled over her words, flushing. "I thought you were - I was looking for - isn't this -"

"You must be Jo," the man said slowly, staring at her. "I mean, Ms. Lupo."

Jo took a step away. He was a generic guy, nothing special about him, but something about the way he was looking at her made her uncomfortable. GD was a tolerant and self-absorbed bunch. Her involvement with Zane had caused a momentary ripple of gossip that had quickly died down as the scientists' returned to the subjects that really absorbed them - their own research - but there was still the occasional person who seemed disapproving. It would be odd if a scientist working closely with Zane was one of them but that was almost what his stare was like: analytical, assessing, critical. Creepy.

He scrambled to his feet and reached out to shake her hand, then realized his hand was dirty and pulled it back. He looked around for something to clean his hands.

"Hey, Jo, what are you doing here?" Zane's voice came from the doorway and Jo turned in relief.

He looked terrible, his clothes rumpled as if he'd been sleeping in them, his hair shaggy and sticking up, unshaven, and exhausted. Jo felt a momentary surge of worry and suppressed it firmly. She'd barely seen Zane in the past few weeks, and under normal circumstances, she would have accepted that as one of the prices for getting involved with a scientist. But when planning a wedding? Well, it was damn annoying.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe looking for you?" Her voice was snappish as she stated the obvious.

"Ow, shit," Zane replied, dropping the materials he'd been carrying. He shook his hand.

"What did you do?"

"Eh, it's nothing," he said as drops of blood hit the floor.

"You're bleeding." She rushed to his side, grabbing for his hand to take a look. "Where's your first aid kit?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Here." The man that Jo had kicked had come up behind them and now passed Zane a roll of paper towels. Zane took the towels and ripped one off, folding it into his palm.

"You should get Alison to look at that," Jo said. "It looks deep."

"It'll be fine," Zane shook his head. "And I don't have time." He crouched down to pick up the things he'd dropped.

Jo pressed her lips together. "You don't have time for anything right now, do you?"

Zane looked up at her, expression wary.

"Such as time to answer your phone?" she continued, folding her arms. She was still aware of the man standing behind her and part of her wanted to find a private place to have this conversation with Zane, but she was too frustrated.

He stood, glancing around the lab as if looking for it. "It's probably out of charge."

Jo reached behind him and picked it up from the desktop where it was sitting. She flipped it open and showed him the charge wordlessly.

"Or set to vibrate?" he said weakly.

"Right," she nodded, pressing the buttons on the side and making the phone ring, then glaring at him as she got back to the real subject. "Or time to keep your appointment at the formal wear place?"

He grimaced, a look of realization. "Shit, that was on Friday, wasn't it? What day is it?"

"It's Sunday, Zane. Sunday. My dad and Rob arrive tomorrow. What's the chance you're going to have time to meet them? Or do anything with them?"

He sighed. "We're so close," he said. "We should be done by now, but stupid little stuff keeps throwing us off."

"We?"

He nodded at the man standing behind her. "This is Don. He's been helping me out."

Jo turned, as the man eagerly stuck his hand out her for her to shake. "Do you think we could have some privacy?" she asked pointedly, ignoring his hand.

"Oh, yeah, of course." He dropped his hand and looked at Zane.

Zane tilted his head in the direction of the door and said, "Come back in ten minutes."

Don nodded and hurried out.

"Ten minutes? That's how long you think you can give to this conversation?" Jo's voice was dangerous.

"Jo, it's -"

"This wedding was your idea. Yours. And I have done everything. Every little bit of planning, every invitation, every decision. You can't even be bothered to get fitted for your damn tux."

"Jo, I -"

"Well, I've got news for you. Rob and my Dad show up tomorrow and are going to spend the next four days trying to talk me out of marrying you. And if you show up for the wedding in blue jeans, they will damn well succeed. So you'd better figure out how to make a little time for this."

"Jo, I - "

Jo glanced at her watch. "Oh, look, it only took two minutes to have this conversation. That gives you eight spare minutes." She shoved the phone into his chest, and he reached and caught it. "You might want to use them trying to make another appointment at the formal wear store."

_*Actually, that's me but I figured, in the spirit of Eureka, I'd do a little product placement. If you like finding new music, Pandora is - well, addictive. _


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

_Monday, 5:46 AM  
_

Damn this elevator! Why wouldn't it get here any faster? Jo banged on the control panel fruitlessly. If she could shoot it to hurry it up, she would.

She glanced down at her cell phone. She'd been clutching it since the buzz of an incoming text message had woken her up - could it be only thirty minutes ago? Yes, thirty-two minutes ago, the calm part of her brain noted.

The text message from Fargo was terse: _Explosion at Zane's lab. Emergency protocols activated. Get here ASAP. _

"Jo!" Jo turned at the sound of Carter's voice behind her. "What do you know?" he continued urgently.

"Nothing," she said bitterly, turning back and shoving her thumb on the down button again. "And this damn elevator won't get here!"

"Jo," Carter's words were gentle, as was the hand he put on her shoulder. "There's an emergency shut-down in place; you need to use the retinal scanner." He pointed out the blinking box on the wall and Jo shook her head, cursing herself silently. She stepped forward, staring into the screen for a second or two, until the machine's mechanical voice approved of her.

Stepping back, biting her lip, she asked, "Did Fargo - ?"

"Got a text from him about half an hour ago. Alison, too. She's dropping Jenna off with the nanny so just a few minutes behind me." Carter confirmed.

Jo nodded. "He probably sent a group text from a computer on a land line. Cell phone signals can't make it through the walls when the cell phone site on top of GD shuts down." She was trying to concentrate on the facts to keep herself calm. An explosion that set off GD's emergency protocols was not a minor explosion. Hell, at GD, they barely noticed the minor explosions. And asking Alison to come? That meant that there were injuries.

The elevator finally arrived and they stepped inside. "What do you know about Zane's project?" Carter asked.

She shook her head. "Almost nothing. He's been too busy to talk about it." Her lip quivered and she tried to smile, although it probably didn't look cheerful. "He's using liquid nitrogen, I know, which isn't exactly explosive, but could cause quite a mess if it was contained under pressure in a small space. But…Zane knows that. He'd never screw up something like that." _Except_, she thought, _if he was really tired and hadn't slept and was trying to make a crazy deadline? Could he have…? No. No. No. _

Carter put his hand back on her shoulder, and stroked up and down her arm. "We don't know anything yet," he reminded her. "Fargo probably didn't either. Relax until we find out more."

"I got mad at him yesterday," Jo admitted. "He'd missed the fitting for his tux on Friday, and he was…" she closed her eyes, remembering how tired he'd looked, and trying hard not to let her emotions swamp her ability to keep moving and thinking.

"It'll be okay, Jo," Carter's voice was reassuring. "It's all going to work out."

"I'm not Zoe, Carter," Jo opened her eyes and looked at him. "Not everything works out." He looked back at her helplessly, and she knew that they were both remembering the day of Alison's ill-fated wedding to Nathan Stark.

The door to the elevator slid silently open and Jo hurried forward, Carter following her. Fargo was standing in the doorway to the lab, talking to one of GD's night-time security guards. At the sound of Jo and Carter's approach, an expression of relief crossed the guard's face but Fargo just looked grim.

"Rostand, Fargo," Jo said, acknowledging them in her most professional voice, but then she saw the devastation in the room behind them and gasped. Her eyes flew to Fargo's.

"We don't know," he said hastily, answering her unasked question. "Henry's on his way with a materials scanner, which should tell us something. And the fire's out, so I'm resetting the system. Emergency protocols should go off in a few minutes, and we'll be able to use our cell phones again." He bent his head over his tablet, and began quickly working on it.

"What can I do, Ms. Lupo?" The security guard, Rostand, asked. He had the anxious expression of a man who knew that he was in the midst of a disaster but who had no idea which way to move or where to go.

"Check the building logs," Jo responded immediately, stepping into the lab. "I want to know what time Zane left last night."

"On it," Rostand nodded, and hurried away to his workstation. Fargo started to say something, then stopped.

Jo looked around her, almost in awe. The room was…obliterated. There was no other word for it. Where yesterday had been pipes and tracks, today were shards of metal, none bigger than a coin. The desks, chairs and office equipment were simply gone, as if they had never been. The walls, ceiling, and floor were blackened with smoke damage, with puddles of black ash in places on the floor where water from the sprinklers had collected.

"This doesn't make sense," Jo said slowly.

"No, it doesn't," Fargo shook his head.

"Wow." Henry stepped into the room, carrying a scanner. He looked around, with the same expression of awe that Jo had worn. Only Carter hadn't looked awed. He was still standing by the door, his expression solemn and worried. "What was Zane doing?"

Fargo shook his head. "Nothing that could have caused this. I was down here at least every other day, helping when I could find the time. There was nothing explosive in his experiments."

Jo crouched and picked up a piece of metal. "He was using liquid nitrogen. Under pressure, it could shatter metal like this, couldn't it?"

"Yes," Fargo agreed. "It'd take a serious screw-up, but it wouldn't be the first time something like that happened. Some school in Texas had a tank explode and shoot through the ceiling of a lab a few years ago."

"Well, liquid nitrogen wouldn't burn, though," Henry said. "And that's smoke damage. With the amount of damage and the way it's been contained - this was an incredibly fast, incredibly hot fire. Was he using…magnesium, maybe?"

Jo looked doubtful, but Fargo shook his head no.

"Where is -" Henry started to ask the question, but Fargo shook his head at him urgently, a motion that Jo saw out of the corner of her eye as she was turning over the piece of metal in her hand. She stood and looked directly at Fargo.

"Start scanning," Fargo ordered Henry, trying not to meet Jo's eyes. "We need to find out the chemical profiles of everything in this room."

"What do you know, Fargo?" Jo asked. "Why is Alison on her way?"

"I don't know anything," Fargo said hastily. "Except…"

"Spit it out, Fargo," Carter said quietly, putting a supportive hand on Fargo's back.

Fargo looked back at Carter gratefully, then looked at Jo. "Zane never left the building last night. I checked the logs on my way in. I let the guard go check because I thought you'd rather hear that without him around."

At that moment, Alison arrived. "Fargo?" she asked. "You wanted me?"

"Yeah," Fargo nodded. He glanced at Jo.

"Are there casualties?" Alison was looking around the lab, confused.

"No."

"So, why - " Alison started.

"I thought…" Fargo swallowed hard. "I thought Jo might need you."

Jo looked at him, at his worry and concern, and, in a moment of absolute clarity, understood: Fargo thought Zane was dead.

_A/N: Two updates in one day! I'm so nice to you. Or maybe not if you're not fond of cliffhangers. Don't worry, the next chapter is well underway and you might even get it tomorrow. I hope that I'm finally fulfilling my promise of action! _

_I've been light on my little tech notes, but liquid nitrogen is very cool stuff. The school in Texas was Texas A&M, and yes, liquid nitrogen could shatter metal but doesn't burn. _


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: This fast update is for Lolly, Copper, and Ally. I wrote it because you cared (and also because my school has completely f'd up and won't give me online access to my classes, argh.) _

_I admit, though, I was so, so evilly tempted to write a Fargo and Jo romantic scene. He could console her for her loss, she could fall into his arms… if it had been April Fool's Day I might have done it. But no. Although I'll probably spoil my own suspense, I remind you that this is romance/humor. Happy endings guaranteed. :-)_

**Chapter Eight**

_Monday, 6:05 AM_

Jo looked around the destroyed room almost blindly, trying to think. If Zane was here when whatever happened had happened, then yes, he was dead. No one could have survived the explosion or whatever it had been. But…it still didn't make sense.

"It has to have been sabotage," she said slowly. "There was nothing in here that could have done this; there was nothing about his experiments that could have had this result. Right?" She looked back and forth from Henry to Fargo.

Henry paused in his scanning. "From what I know about it, you're right. He was working on levitation. It's incredibly cool, but it doesn't explode."

"I hadn't gotten that far but you could be right." Fargo frowned as he considered the idea.

Carter stepped forward. Sabotage made this his territory. "The project was due today, wasn't it? If Zane wasn't finished, could he have…?"

Both Fargo and Jo were shaking their heads. "He wouldn't," Jo said confidently. "Blowing things up, sure, but not like this."

"He was too close," said Fargo. "The congressional meetings will go on for days, and he didn't need days. If he hadn't kept running into problems, he would have been done last week."

"He mentioned that yesterday," Jo said. "Stupid stuff, he said. Could that have been part of it? Could someone have been trying to ruin the project all along?"

Fargo scratched his head. "I don't know. It wasn't obvious, if so. It just seemed like little things going wrong, like not having the right kind of tubing delivered."

Jo nodded, still thinking hard. Little stupid stuff, and then a big explosion. Big, but totally contained: nothing outside this lab had been damaged.

"There are biologicals in the room," Henry reported. "And-" he glanced at Jo but plunged forward with his words, "I'm sorry, Jo, human blood. Only trace amounts, but an explosion like this one that has vaporized everything within reach would only leave trace amounts."

"Can you tell where they were?" Jo asked, feeling numb.

"Where what were?"

"The trace amounts of blood. Zane cut himself yesterday, near the door. He dripped blood on the floor. If he didn't clean it up, that's far enough away from the center of the burnt area-" She could see her friends exchanging glances, and closed her eyes, so as not to have to see them feeling sorry for her.

"Ms. Lupo?" Rostand was back. "Dr. Donovan never left the building."

_If Zane had been here… _Jo's eyes were still closed, and she was trying to remember what the room had looked like yesterday. The device in the center of the room, the pipes, a desk on that wall…

"Send someone to every lab he's ever worked in," Jo ordered Rostand, opening her eyes. "I want them all checked. The sky cruiser lab, the null weps lab, the consumer products lab…"

Rostand nodded obediently and pulled out his phone. But Carter and Fargo looked confused, and Alison looked worried.

"Nothing in his experiment could have caused this, so it has to have been a deliberate act by someone. But whoever did it was careful. Nothing else was destroyed. The fire didn't even escape this lab," Jo explained to them, her words spilling over each other in her haste to explain. "If Zane was here, then it was murder. Deliberate premeditated murder - but that doesn't fit the style of the sabotage. On the other hand, Zane's been spending nights at GD and there was no place to sleep in here. He must have been sleeping somewhere, so where?"

Before she was finished, Fargo had jumped in, turning to Rostand eagerly and saying, "Check the IT department, too, and the server farm. And the particle physics lab in Section 2, and the one in Section 5. Oh, and the drone project lab - that's down in Section 8."

"The infirmary has beds," suggested Alison. "That's where I'd go to sleep."

"Those couches in the lounge by the cafeteria are pretty comfortable," said Carter, fascinated.

"The sleep lab has real beds," offered Henry. "They're designed to be as comfortable as possible.

"We're at shift change, Ms. Lupo," Rostand reported. "It's going to take a little while to get people searching."

Jo glanced at her watch and rolled her eyes. What crappy timing. The security personnel mostly worked 6 to 2, 2 to 10, and 10 to 6, with a couple of people on an overlap shift of 5 to 1, 1 to 9, and 9 to 5, so that there was always someone alert and on duty. Under the emergency shut-down, everyone would have stayed, but when Fargo reset the system, the night shift would have thought it okay to leave. She could call them back, but…a thought occurred to her.

She pulled out her phone and pulled up Zane's marauder's map app.* Okay, so it was totally illegal. And okay, so six months ago, she probably would have totally disapproved and certainly never been willing to use such a thing. But something about hiding the fact of the reality of your life from everyone you met lest you be sent to solitary confinement for the rest of your life for something you had no control over was a little corrupting. Or put it this way, once you were breaking one major law, a few minor ones started to seem like no big deal.

She held her phone up to her ear and recited the password, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," feeling foolish. But Zane had refused to change the password for her, insisting that only the authentic version would work. Quickly, she typed in Zane's name and waited. And then closed her eyes, the wave of relief sweeping her so intense that it almost brought her to her knees.

"Keep checking the chemicals," she said to Henry, her voice wobbling a little. "We need to know how this was done." To Carter she said, "You might want to start figuring out who would do this, who has motivation to want to destroy this project." To Fargo, she said simply, "Thank you. Thank you for…" and then stopped, not knowing the words to express how aware she was that his first thoughts had been of how to make something horrible easier on her. Calling Alison - well, it was actually impossibly sweet. Walking toward the door, she paused next to him and dropped a kiss on his cheek.

"What did you find out?" Carter asked.

"His phone's in my office," she said. "And it wasn't there yesterday. So I think it's pretty likely that he's there, too."

_* The marauder's map app is a GPS tracking device that uses the GPS locator in people's cell phones to track their locations. If it existed, it could work within ten meters, so could probably come pretty close to telling Jo that Zane was in her office. It doesn't exist because although it's technically feasible, it's also totally illegal. I made it up for _An Australian Werewolf in Eureka _and am actually really tickled to be using it again. _


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine**

_Monday, 6:20 AM_

Zane was asleep. He'd rearranged the black office chairs that sat in front of her desk so that they were facing each other, and he was slouched in one with his feet up on the other. He looked profoundly uncomfortable, but also incontrovertibly alive. It took every ounce of willpower Jo had not to shake him awake and yell at him for terrifying her, but instead she took a deep breath and called Carter.

"He's here, and he's fine," she reported quietly, hoping not to wake Zane.

"Oh, Jo, that's -" Carter stopped there, but Jo understood. She could hear the relief in his voice, as he quickly passed the news along to the others. "Henry's going to try to find out what caused the explosion, but I should start working on that list of people with motive. So who would want to sabotage Zane's project? Can you ask him if he has any ideas?"

Jo looked at the peacefully sleeping Zane and her mouth twisted in a wry smile. "That's going to be a long list, isn't it?" She remembered the day Tess Fontana accused Zane of sabotaging Tiny, the Titan Rover. How many other scientists were there at GD who blamed Zane when disaster struck? His reputation made him the first person anyone looked at. Of course, with the exception of the scientists who ran experiments on animals, they were probably wrong: Zane might have no respect for authority but he had a deep love of science, and his pranks almost never interfered with another scientist's work. Still, scientists were human and when a project went bad, looking around for someone to blame was natural. "I'll get back to you on that one."

Zane shifted, and Jo crouched down next to him. "Zane, you need to wake up," she said gently. No response. She said it again a little louder. A muscle might have twitched. She dropped a gentle kiss on his lips. He shifted very slightly, but didn't otherwise move. "Zane," she said loudly, as she shook him by the shoulder. Nothing.

With a sigh, she stood and kicked the chair out from under his feet. As his feet hit the ground, his eyes opened in protest, and he sat upright, startled awake the hard way. "Ouch, Jo," he grumbled, rubbing his hands over his face. "It's morning already?"

"Sort of." Watching him struggle to wake up, she felt a wave of love for him so intense that she had to close her eyes and take a deep breath. Opening them again, she glanced at the camera in the corner of her office ceiling, then shrugged and straddled Zane's legs, taking his mouth in a deep, possessive kiss.

He was surprised, she could tell. He hesitated before beginning to kiss her back but within seconds he was participating enthusiastically, sliding his hands around her and trying to pull her closer. There wasn't enough room, though, because the arms of the chair were getting in the way, so she wiggled backward slightly, tugging him back with her. He slid forward eagerly, trying to keep her close, but their weight was too much on the edge of the chair and for a moment, they almost over-balanced. Jo's eyes flew open as she felt the chair start to slide out from under them, but Zane caught them both, standing and pulling Jo to her feet, never pausing in his passionate exploration of her mouth.

She kissed him as if nothing in the world existed but him, reaching up to him and pulling his head to hers and opening her mouth to him as an electrifying passion ran through her. She slid her hands under his shirt and up, teasing him with stroking touches, and he groaned, drawing her into him so that she could feel his hard body pressed against hers. But she pulled away, wanting room to touch him, room to let her hands roam, and her desk hit the back of her legs. Then he was lifting her onto the desk and leaning her back, and she was moaning into his mouth as she felt his hands sliding down her body, stroking, cupping, until suddenly, she remembered…

"Wait." She broke the kiss, gasping, putting her hand over Zane's mouth to stop him. "Cameras. I didn't mean to get quite so carried away."

He groaned. "I don't care." But he pulled his hand out from under her shirt.

"Your mom was the person who saw the footage last time," she pointed out, still breathless.

"Okay, that…" he laughed, out of breath himself, and paused, turning his head to the side. "Unfair, Jo."

"Just saying."

"Yeah…good job," he said, straightening and stepping back. "Not quite a cold shower, but close." He shook his head and grinned at her, and as she sat up, added, "Not that that wasn't an awesome wake-up call, but the last time I saw you, you were pretty damn pissed at me. Don't I need to grovel a little?"

She looked at him, considering. Yes, he did, actually. The wedding hadn't been her idea and yet it had consumed her life for the last month. And when she'd imagined getting married – not that she'd ever spent much time thinking about it, but every woman at least considers the idea once or twice – she'd pictured leisurely planning a festive occasion with a partner, not a solo mad rush through a list of chores. But given that his obsession for the last month had just gone up in smoke, she could probably forgive him without the groveling. Plus, now she had to tell him about his project.

"There was an explosion," she said.

He looked startled. "Where? Did someone get hurt?"

"In your lab."

"In my lab?" His surprise was replaced by confusion. "What kind of explosion? The liquid nitrogen was vented. It couldn't explode except under pressure and there's no reason it would be under pressure – unless ice somehow…"

Jo was shaking her head. "No, there was a fire, too."

"A fire? But there was nothing combustible there. Liquid nitrogen is endothermic. It absorbs heat. And with the petrotech insulation – yeah, no, a fire is impossible. There'd be nothing to fuel it."

"That's why we think it must have been sabotage."

"Okay, you're – you're serious? The lab I've been using for the mag-lev project burned?" Zane sat down in the chair behind him, shocked.

Jo nodded. She'd been sitting on the desk, but she slid off and stood in front of him. "So the question is, who would want to sabotage your project?"

Zane shook his head. "No, the question is, why now? I finished last night. We filmed the prototype in action, and I uploaded the video and the project file to the server, and sent Fargo an email. It's done. Destroying the prototype – well, it's pointless."

"You're done?"

"With the proposal, yeah. The hard part is the cooling system: maintaining a temperature that keeps the liquid nitrogen cold enough to stay a superconductor over time is the real challenge. A transportation system that shuts down when it gets hot outside would be useless."

"And your prototype wasn't complete?"

"No, it was just a working demonstration of a magnetic-levitation system. If we could already make the cooling system, I wouldn't need to be asking Congress for insane amounts of money. I actually might need -" he glanced back at the camera, and then continued, "—to do some arctic research to learn more about these black ice striations."

Jo glanced at the camera, too, and then shrugged. They were no longer in danger of being sanctioned. And despite Zane's caution, there was no reason anyone watching the video would be suspicious if she mentioned the ice-creating fungus. "You mean you might need a sample of the fungus?"

He nodded. In this timeline, Taggart had been working on his wolf research, so he and Zane had never retrieved the arctic ice.

Jo started to pace. "But if it wasn't to destroy your prototype, why would someone blow up your lab?"

"Well, and how? Making liquid nitrogen explode is – hmm…" His eyes started to glaze over as he considered the science involved. "I suppose you could do it in stages. Release the nitrogen first – no, that wouldn't work. With that much nitrogen in an enclosed space, there wouldn't be enough oxygen. Whoever did it would suffocate, and there couldn't be a fire without oxygen. So put the nitrogen under pressure and – no, that wouldn't work, either."

"Henry's working on the how," Jo said firmly. "I need you to think about the who. Who would want to destroy your work?"

Zane shrugged. "If it was someone who wanted to stop the project before it got started, they must not have realized that I was finished. It's not like I broke out the champagne. It was pretty damn late." As she paced around him, he grabbed her hand and pulled her to a stop. "Besides, I'd rather save the champagne for later in the week." His words were casual but his eyes were intent on hers.

"You don't drink champagne," she reminded him, looking down at his upturned face, starting to smile.

"Details," he shrugged, sliding his hand up her arm, his eyes still asking her a question.

"Details," she agreed, voice husky, leaning down to him and kissing him. After a long, solid, extremely satisfying kiss that said, she hoped, that all was forgiven, she pulled back and asked, slightly guiltily, "Although speaking of details, did you manage to arrange a fitting for -?"

She didn't have to finish because he was nodding. "9 AM this morning," he confirmed. "It's why I was in your office: I figured you'd wake me up. There aren't any clocks in the sleep lab, and Dr. Oneiroi doesn't usually get in until 10 or so."

"The sleep lab?" Jo asked. "Score for Henry. I'm glad I didn't send guards to search all of your old labs."


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N: This is a typical middle chapter - it's going to seem like nothing much happens, but really, it's all essential, I promise. Well, I suppose I could have skipped the bits about the bachelor party - that's just a tease. But the rest of it is important, I swear, despite how, well, calm, it appears. But this author's note is not meant to be defensive about the chapter - it's to say thank you to ZeroGain who today wrote the review that made me persist in writing this evening when the sane thing to do was to say 'the hell with it, this story is too complicated,' and quit writing and watch TV. Actually, to all reviewers - if it weren't for you, this story would just be living in my imagination, instead of here on the internet, because your words make the arduous task of getting my ideas down in black-and-white worthwhile - so thank you all!_

**Chapter Ten**

_Monday, 10:25 AM_

The evidence was piling up. But it wasn't adding up.

Jo had sent Zane home to shave, shower, and change before his fitting. Their original plan was for him to meet her back at GD when it was done, but her father and Rob had called. They expected to be in Eureka by noon so the revised plan was for Jo to meet them and Zane at Café Diem. At least, Jo hoped that was the plan – she'd had to leave a message on Zane's cell phone and she could only hope that he remembered to check it. Juggling an investigation, a family visit, and – oh, yeah, her wedding – was going to prove complicated, she realized.

Henry was still trying to determine the cause of the explosion and fire. He'd found trace elements in the ash that were unexpected – acetone seeming to be the most troubling to him, but also some heavy metals – but nothing of the obvious fuels that would indicate arson. He'd spent a solid two hours with the chemical scanner in different corners of the room, before finally pronouncing himself mystified and collecting samples of the ash to take off to his lab where he could use a mass spectrometer to learn more.

Jo, Carter, and Fargo were still hammering at the problem of who would want to destroy the project and why. They were in Fargo's office now, Jo watching over Fargo's shoulder as he called up record after record on his computer, looking for any research that might have overlapped with Zane's, and any scientist who might feel aggressively competitive about the potential transportation dollars.

"This isn't going to work," Fargo finally said. "We're never going to figure it out this way. There's just no rational reason why anyone would do this and none of the personnel files are going to say, 'oh, look, crazy scientist here'."

"If that was a field in a personnel record, half the scientists at GD would have it checked," Carter agreed with Fargo. "But if we rule out the idea that someone wanted to destroy the project, where does that leave us?"

Jo bit her lip. Her first instinct – that the sabotage was directed at Zane, not his research – was looking more likely. "With someone who wanted to hurt Zane?"

"Hurt him?" Fargo asked. "But you were sure that whoever did it had been careful not to hurt anyone."

Jo was shaking her head. "Not physically. But – revenge? Hate? Zane's pissed off a lot of people."

"So we should be looking at Zane's record," Carter suggested.

Jo grimaced. "I should help but -" she started, torn between conflicting needs. Trying to match Zane's pranks to GD personnel was likely to take a while and in the back of her mind, a trickle of anticipation was teasing her, reminding her that she was about to see her dad and her closest brother. But this was her job, and she took it seriously. Sabotage on GD property was her responsibility.

"You don't have time," Carter finished for her. "That's okay. I can take care of this."

Fargo nodded in agreement. "This is a big week for you. Your parents today, Zane's mom tomorrow, the bachelor party and your shower on Wednesday, rehearsal on Thursday…you're supposed to be taking vacation time, not working."

Jo smiled at Fargo. He'd actually been paying attention when she rambled to him about her schedule over the past few weeks. "I think you know my schedule better than I do. And you definitely know it better than Zane does."

Fargo shrugged and looked embarrassed. "I probably haven't been working as hard as him, either. Besides, I'm really excited about the bachelor party – it's going to be great!"

"You haven't said what you have planned." It wasn't quite a question.

"And I'm not going to." Fargo grinned at her. "But don't worry, I followed your rules. No strippers, exotic dancers or women." Changing the subject, he returned to work. "Let Carter and me work on a suspect list and then Carter can start talking to people. We'll keep you posted. But you should go – you don't get to see your family often."

Just the words turned Jo's anticipation into excitement. Almost bouncing, she admitted, "I can't wait for you to meet them. But I want to check in with Rostand before I go. I put him to work looking at footage from the security cameras that are closest to Zane's lab. None of them are perfectly positioned, but there ought to be something to see."

* * *

Striding down the hallway towards Rostand's security station, Jo spotted a familiar back in front of her.

"Zane?"

He turned to face her, smiling, blue eyes warm. He'd showered and shaved, and even his hair was neat for a change. "Damn," she glanced at her watch. "You must not have gotten my message."

"Ah, no." He patted his pockets. "I must have left my phone somewhere."

She frowned. He'd had it in her office earlier. "At the formal wear store?" she suggested. "Please find it. I know you don't carry it all the time, but this week is going to be tough to plan without it."

He nodded. "I'll get it now."

"Well, not right now. I need to check in with Rostand, but then we're meeting my dad and Rob at Café Diem for lunch." He looked uncertain, and she raised her eyebrows. "You did remember that they were getting here today?" she asked, not sure what his expression meant. "And you said you'd finished, so –"

"Of course, of course," he said hastily. "I've got my bike, so I'll meet you there, okay?"

"Okay," she said doubtfully. She supposed that was efficient: two vehicles would give them a little more freedom after lunch.

"You look incredible," he said, voice husky, stepping closer to her.

Jo looked down at herself. She'd thrown on her clothes that morning – the simple blue pullover sweater and plain black pants had been the first things that came to hand after the buzzing of her phone woke her up. "Um, thanks?"

"You're so beautiful." He reached out and touched her long dark hair. She always wore it up at work, but in her hurry to get to GD, she hadn't bothered.

"Okay," she said, laughing. "We don't have time for this. I need to find out if Rostand knows anything, and we need to get to Café Diem. I'll see you there." Reaching up, she brushed a kiss across his lips and then hurried away.

At Rostand's station, she looked back down the hallway. Zane was gone and she shook her head, trying to put her personal life out of her mind for five minutes so that she could concentrate on her professional life. Yes, this week was going to be a challenge.

"What do you have for me?" she asked Rostand. He was scrolling through a list of pictures of people on his computer screen, mumbling to himself, and he jumped, startled, at her words.

She frowned at him. She expected her security personnel to be a little better about paying attention to their surroundings.

"I'm sorry, ma'am," he said hastily. "It's just – it makes no sense."

"What's that?"

He closed the screen of images and pulled up the video footage. "This is from the security camera closest to the elevator." He froze on a still image of Don, the scientist that Zane had introduced her to the day before. He was carrying several carefully-stacked boxes, but his face was still clearly visible.

"Okay," Jo said. "So?"

"As far as I can tell, he never left."

"Oh." Jo immediately thought of the biological trace that Henry had found. And that blood. Could she have been wrong that no one had been hurt? Rostand's eyes met hers and she knew that they were thinking the same thing. If he'd arrived carrying boxes and he'd never left…

"But that's not what's odd," Rostand continued. He retrieved the screen he'd been looking at initially. "This is the employee directory. The computer didn't recognize his picture, which is strange but sometimes the facial recognition software doesn't work if someone has changed a lot since they first arrived in Eureka. So I isolated several parameters that wouldn't change: he's male, probably in his 30s, roughly six feet. But I still haven't been able to identify him. Who is he?"

"Or - who was he?" Jo sighed. Really, was it asking so much to have a few quiet, disaster-free days in which to get married? As she pulled out her phone, she nodded and said, "Good work," to Rostand. "I'll call Carter and get him and Fargo down here to take a look. Zane will know who he is, but he's misplaced his phone so I can't call him. I'll ask him at lunch."


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: This is a pre-footnote (a head note?). As you've might have noticed, I borrow from Eureka liberally, and not just by using the characters and settings. Almost every story has at least a couple of unacknowledged quotes worked in (including this one—Ch2, if you didn't notice and want to try to find it). Every once in a while, I also acknowledge my fellow fanfic writers, although usually pretty subtly, I hope (that closed door was all about you, Ally!) This time, it's not subtle. I so liked Aicalas's idea of how Zane calmed himself down that I'm blatantly stealing it. I hope you don't mind, Aicalas (if you're reading), and to everyone else, credit for the Fibonacci sequence goes to Aicalas, not me. Oh, and obviously, wikipedia gave me the numbers – I did not work them out myself, so if they're wrong, go fix wikipedia._

_A/N 2: And yes, this story is insanely complicated. And we're not even halfway there yet - the next chapter is going to be fun, fun, fun! _

**Chapter Eleven**

_Monday, 11:55_

Zane checked the time. Still five minutes to go. He wanted to pace or fidget or do something physical to release all the nervous anxiety that was building, but instead he worked out the Fibonacci sequence in his head: _4,181; 6,765; 10,946; 17,711…_

He'd made it to 3,524,578 when Vincent interrupted him with a subtle poke and a head gesture toward the door.

"Yours?" Vincent whispered.

He looked over. Two men were standing in the doorway, looking around curiously. Although dressed in casual civilian clothes, they were obviously military. It was in their alert eyes, their perfect posture, their general look of fit athleticism. Add the dark hair, dark eyes, olive skin – they had to be Jo's relatives. Zane took a deep breath, and answered, "I hope so."

Standing, he crossed to the door. "Sir?" he extended his hand to the older man. "Zane Donovan."

The older man eyed him grimly, then shook his hand, almost reluctantly. "Joseph Lupo."

Zane turned to the younger man, who grinned at him. "Rob," he said, sticking his hand out and gripping Zane's firmly. "I've been looking forward to this."

"Ah, you're not the only one," Zane replied, a response that seemed appropriate while still pleasantly ambiguous. Someone might have been looking forward to this, but it wasn't him. Actually, he'd pretty much been dreading it, in the rare moments when he had time to think about it. And if he'd ever imagined that he'd have to meet Jo's family on, at most, four hours of uncomfortable sleep, on top of several days of equally little sleep – well, he would have arranged this better if he could have.

Turning, he gestured to the table at which he'd been sitting. "I'm sure Jo will be here any minute. I know she's really excited about your visit."

Joseph grunted. "Not just a visit," Rob said cheerfully as they entered the restaurant and took their seats. "A wedding, too. So tell us all about it."

"Uh, what would you like to know?" Zane asked, sitting down and looking desperately for Vincent. Where the hell was Jo? Any interruption would be welcome, but her presence would be by far the most welcome interruption of all.

"Everything," Rob said, the faint edge of sarcasm in his voice barely evident.

Zane looked at him. Was Rob an ally or an enemy? It was pretty clear that Jo's dad had hated him on first sight – or probably before – but Rob's look had been friendly. Still, the question was…well, a potential minefield. If Rob had been talking regularly to Jo, then he already knew exactly how uninvolved Zane had been in the wedding planning, despite his best intentions. He really hadn't meant to dump the whole thing on Jo. When he'd told her the wedding was unimportant to him, that had been true, but he still figured he'd do his share. He just hadn't expected the magnetic-levitation project to be as challenging as it had turned out to be.

"I show up to the church wearing a tux at 5 PM on Friday," he finally said flatly. "We say some words, sign some papers, and after that…" he looked at Jo's dad, his instincts fighting with his reason. What had Jo called him when she was talking to her dad? A snarky jerk? He could say something crude now – the words were so obvious and they were on the tip of his tongue. Defiance and hostility to authority figures were second nature to Zane. But maybe right now was the moment to temper that. He took a deep breath, and said evenly, "After that, I get to love, cherish, and support your sister for the rest of my life."

Rob looked down, a smile tugging at his lips, and Jo's dad grunted again. "I'm looking forward to it," Zane added, just to rub it in.

"Support her?" scoffed Joseph. "Do they pay you? I thought you were a criminal, here on parole."

Zane paused. Oh, this was going to be tough. He reminded himself of the end goal: Jo. Gorgeous Jo, asleep in his bed. Laughing Jo, making fun of him for his lamentable lack of kitchen skills – although why learn to cook in a town that had Vincent? Tough Jo, kicking his butt in paintball. Jo, Jo, Jo – he could do this.

"No," he said cheerfully, "I'm not on parole. And yes, they do pay me. Quite well." _Thanks, Mom_, he thought, knowing that he would never actually thank his mother for getting rid of his criminal record but momentarily grateful that she had. He bit back the temptation to ask if they wanted to compare paychecks. The money had never been important to him – he always figured he could get as much as he wanted, if not necessarily legally – but he was quite sure that the pay grade for a physicist topped that of even the longest serving enlisted man.*

The bell over the door rang and Zane looked in that direction_. Thank God_. It was Jo. Three minutes of hugs, kisses, greetings, and happy squeals (Jo's) later, they were all seated at the table and Vincent was taking their orders.

"How did you get here so quickly?" Jo asked Zane, once Vincent had gone.

His several minutes alone with her relatives had put him right at the edge of his ability to suppress the snark and he narrowed his eyes at her. _Quickly?_ What about this had been quick?

She obviously caught the danger signs, because she hastily added, "Hey, I'm sorry to start right off with business, but I have some bad news."

Zane raised his eyebrows. What had she learned while he was getting fitted for a tux? (Not his favorite all-time experience, by the way.)

"I don't know the details yet," she continued. "But it looks as if your colleague Don might have been killed in the explosion."

"Don?" Zane asked, surprised.

"What explosion?" Joseph asked. He frowned at Zane, suspiciously.

Jo reached across the table and put her hand on her father's. "Zane's project was destroyed last night," she said simply. "We think it was arson." She looked at Zane. "And it looks – well, we think Don might have caused it."

Zane shook his head. "That's not possible."

"Which? That he did it, or that he was killed while doing it?"

"Either. Both." Zane shrugged.

"I know it must be hard to hear, especially after working with him throughout the project. But he entered the lab carrying a bunch of boxes, and it doesn't appear that he ever left. The simplest explanation is that he brought in whatever caused the explosion and didn't manage to escape. The only question is whether the explosion was deliberate or an accident."

Again, Zane shook his head. "No, really, he couldn't have."

Jo just looked at him, waiting for an explanation.

"Don's a robot. There's no way his programming would let him blow up the lab." Zane pulled out his phone and started to click through his contact list.

"What are you doing?" asked Jo. "And where did you find your phone?"

Zane found the number he was looking for and pressed the button to dial it, then looked at Jo curiously. What was she talking about? "I'm calling Dr. Calvin," he said. "Don was her project; I'm sure she has some way of tracking him."

_* To the best of my ability to google, the top military pay for enlisted personnel is about $60,000/year. The average annual salary for a physicist working for the federal government is $118,000/year, and the really good ones probably earn a lot more than that. No one in Eureka ever seems to think about money, and that's probably why. We should all become physicists! _


	12. Chapter 12

_A/N: Yes, I'm on a weekend writing binge. But I'm so very excited about this chapter! Please R&R and make all my painful science research worth it._

**Chapter Twelve**

_Tuesday, sometime mid-morning_

"He's just standing there," Carter murmured to Jo.

"He's thinking." She and Carter were standing in the doorway of the devastated magnetic-levitation lab, watching Zane who was still and silent in the middle of the room.

"Well, he doesn't look like he's thinking. He looks sick."

"Yeah, he does, doesn't he?" Jo frowned. _What was up with that?_ She stepped forward. "Zane?" she called to him softly.

He shook his head as if breaking himself out of a trance. "Is Henry on his way in?"

"Yeah, I think so. Are you okay?"

He nodded absently, and immediately stopped paying attention to her, going back to his blank stare, lips moving silently.

Jo sighed, and stepped back to Carter. "I guess we wait."

Carter nodded, frowning as he watched Zane think. "How did it go with your family yesterday?" he finally asked, taking the opportunity to catch up.

"Oh, God," Jo tried for a chuckle. "Disaster would probably be too kind a word. After Zane called Dr. Calvin and tried to get her to track her robot, she showed up at Café Diem, absolutely ballistic. I'm not sure why she thought it was Zane's fault when his project was also destroyed, but she blames him for the destruction of her robot. Having a screaming scientist attacking him – yeah, that went over real well with my dad."

"At least she was able to confirm that the robot was destroyed. It really must have been an amazing explosion, though: Andy's survived so much damage." Carter looked around at the shreds of metal and ash on the floor and shook his head.

"That was probably why she was so angry. It was a prototype and I don't think she imagined when she lent Zane the robot to work on his project that she'd have to start over."

"I'd add her to my list of people to interview who might be angry with Zane, but I guess she's more likely to be on the list next time."

"Did you have any luck with that?" Jo asked.

Carter shrugged. "Not exactly, no." He thought back to yesterday's interviews. He'd talked to half a dozen people who'd been affected by one of Zane's pranks and although most were perfectly willing to call him names – variants on jackass being the most popular – none had seemed likely to hate him enough to want to hurt him.

Emily Glenn, who claimed not to understand people, had had the most interesting insight about that. He'd gone to her not because he thought she had a problem with Zane, but because she worked with animals, and he thought she might know who of her colleagues might hate Zane. She'd flatly rejected the possibility that any vet would want to hurt Zane, and then added, thoughtfully, "Hmm, but they might want to stop him from getting too busy."

"Why is that?" he'd asked curiously.

"Well, we all run into computer problems occasionally," she'd shrugged. "We're supposed to call the IT department and they'll send a tech out to take a look. But no one ever does. It's so much faster to just call Dr. Donovan."*

"People call Zane for help?"

She nodded. "Everyone does." She'd bent over her microscope again, obviously moving on from the conversation, before straightening and adding, "He's sometimes rude about it, but he seems to spend an awful lot of his time working on other people's projects. You might want to look for who needs his help the most, instead of who hates him the most."

Carter relayed that conversation to Jo, and she laughed incredulously.

"Okay, so let's list our possibilities now," she said. "The robot could have caused the explosion accidentally or on purpose. If on purpose, someone must have interfered with his programming somehow. The guilty person could have wanted to stop the project, or hurt Zane, or keep Zane's time available." She threw up her hands in dismay. "We need to be narrowing down the pool of suspects, not expanding it!"

"Plus we can't rule out the possibility that the attack was directed at Dr. Calvin's work, not Zane's," Henry added from behind them. "Perhaps Don was the target."

Jo rolled her eyes.

"Maybe we shouldn't be looking for motive," Carter suggested. "We could focus on who had the opportunity."

Henry shook his head. "If someone caused this by inserting a hidden subroutine into Don's programming, it could have been done any time. It might have been done months ago."

"Well, then we need to look for someone who would be capable of re-programming a robot," Jo pointed out. "There can't be that many people, even at GD."

Again, Henry shook his head. He was watching Zane, who still hadn't looked over toward them and was concentrating intently on the wall. "We could do that, but I think the means might be more interesting."

"The means?" Carter asked.

"I can't determine how this explosion was caused," Henry's frustration was clear. "There's no trace of the kind of accelerants that would be needed to cause destruction like this. It's both too complete and too contained, if that makes sense. I'm hoping Zane has some ideas because I admit, I'm stumped." He stepped forward into the room and caught Zane's attention.

"Henry, you're here, great." The look of relief that crossed Zane's face made his level of worry obvious. Carter and Jo exchanged looks. Henry, stumped? Zane, worried? This couldn't be good. They followed Henry into the room.

"Did you figure out –" Zane started, but Henry was shaking his head.

"I've got nothing," Henry admitted. "I'm going to get out the radiation scanners and continue testing for everything I can think of, but at the moment, I have no idea how this could have happened." A wave of his hand around the room indicated the "this" he was referring to.

"Radiation?" Carter quickly questioned. "Should we be in here?"

"Not dangerous to us," Henry shook his head. "The building has sensors that would detect any ionizing radiation that was potentially harmful."

Zane sighed. "I don't know if that'll help."

"What are you thinking?" Henry asked.

"Novikov," Zane replied. "The self-consistency principle." He looked away again and went back to staring at the wall.

"Oh," said Henry, slowly. "Oh," he repeated, this time with a little more emphasis. "Oh, that…that's bad. Are you thinking –"

"Alternate universe?" Zane's voice was artificially calm, as if he was forcing himself to stay focused on the science. "Or maybe a wormhole?

"Okay, what are you guys talking about?" Jo demanded.

Henry sighed and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Zane?" he prodded. "It's your idea."

Zane tore his attention away from the wall finally, and looked at Jo. He did look sick, she realized, just as Carter had suggested earlier. "Are you okay?" she asked him again. Again, he nodded, but then he added a more equivocal head shake. "So what is this self-consistency principle?" she asked. "And what's important about it?"

"You broke it," he answered simply.

"I broke it?" her voice was startled, her eyes wide with surprise.

"We all did," Henry answered, shaking his head. "Novikov was a Russian physicist. His self-consistency principle says that it's impossible to change the past, and thus impossible to change a timeline. He accepted that time-travel was theoretically possible under certain conditions of general relativity but determined that on a closed time curve, events had to be self-consistent."

"Okay, what does that mean?" Carter asked impatiently.

"You changed the timeline," Zane said. "When you went back in time, you created a different future. This world isn't the world that you started out in. That wouldn't be so bad until…" He looked around him at the destruction. "The good news is that you've proven the multi-worlds theory of quantum mechanics. You should probably get a Nobel prize."

"What's the bad news?" Jo asked the question.

"Quantum decoherence." He looked at Henry, who was also looking vaguely ill.

"But why now?" Henry asked. "We've been here for months. And why like this?"

Zane shrugged. "I didn't – shouldn't – know about the ice fungus. But I do. When I started acting on that knowledge, I created a paradox. The super-cooling system shouldn't exist in this world, because the events that support it haven't happened. If I'm right, the universe corrected itself. Explosively. Don – well, he was probably collateral damage."

"All right, I'm really confused," Jo said. "Explain this from the beginning."

Zane nodded and started again. "In quantum mechanics, the wavefunction collapse– "

"Simpler than that, Zane," demanded Carter.

"Right," Zane sighed. "Okay, one idea of how reality and time work says that there's a single world, with a single set of events happening in it. In that model, if you go back in time, cause change, and then come forward again, the world no longer exists as it was. You might talk about going home, but you'd have to travel back in time and reverse the exact changes that you made before, which would be close to impossible, since you can't know what act changed the future. It's more likely that changes would just keep multiplying, and the world you returned to the second time would be even more different."

"Oh, God," said Jo, feeling vaguely ill herself. "Thank goodness we didn't keep trying."

"But that's just one model of the universe. In that model, Novikov's self-consistency principle says that you can travel in time, but you can't change it, so you should have returned to the exact world you left. You didn't, so we can conclude – we have to conclude - that that model of the universe is wrong."

Nodding, Henry said, "Unless we can come up with a postulate to replace the self-consistency principle, the multi-worlds theory seems to fit our experience better. In that model, there are many alternate universes. The world that we started in still exists somewhere, but when we traveled forward in time, we traveled between universes, and wound up in a universe not our own."

"That's not inherently bad," Zane added, "Except, apparently, maybe, possibly…" his voice trailed off and he returned to staring blankly at the wall.

"…if we change this world in ways that the reality doesn't support," Henry continued for him. "Something that can't exist, won't exist. The laws of the universe can't allow it."

"So the super-cooling system went poof because Zane shouldn't have known how to make it?" Carter asked, fascinated.

"Exactly," Henry nodded. "That knowledge doesn't fit this reality. As a result -" he spread his hands, "- quantum decoherence. The system interacts with its environment in a thermodynamically irreversible way and the molecules release all their energy."

"Okay, so problem solved," Jo said. "No sabotage, no arson – awesome. We can wrap this investigation up and I can get back to spending time with my family and getting ready for the wedding."

Zane looked at her and then glanced at Henry. "That's only one theory. Maybe it was a wormhole. The universes could have connected for a moment in time, before the wormhole collapsed. Maybe something came through the wormhole. Or maybe… "

"Zane," Henry was shaking his head. "You have to say it."

Zane's mouth twisted and he looked away.

"Jo, if this theory is correct, the universe has to stay consistent. Nothing can happen that shouldn't have happened in the reality that was," Henry said gently, "or we risk another explosive correction."

"What does that mean?" Jo asked. She looked from face to face. Carter was obviously as confused as she was, but she could tell that Zane understood what Henry was saying. She reached out one hand, and he pulled her, almost roughly, to him, wrapping his arms around her fiercely. She acquiesced, looking up at his face. "Tell me."

"If you hadn't traveled in time, you wouldn't be marrying me," he said, voice husky. "So if this theory is correct, getting married could cause exactly this kind of explosion."

_* In _Momstrosity_ (one of my favorite episodes), it looks as if pretty much everyone has called Zane to provide tech support on that "glitchy day even by GD standards." I find it one of the most interesting aspects of his character in the new timeline – it really doesn't fit the bad-boy, troublemaker persona._

_Tech notes: Nobikov's self-consistency theory is real. So is the multi-worlds theory of quantum mechanics, and so is quantum decoherence. Did I ever mention that the whole magnetic levitation and super-conductor thing was true, too? It is and there are some fun videos of magnetic-levitation on youtube. Do all these pieces fit together in the way I'm describing them? Um, maybe not. I know nothing about physics – really, truly, nothing, I dropped the class after about a month years and years ago – so this is all just Google and Wikipedia. But I hope it sounds as plausible as anything on Eureka ever does! _


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: All right, the lack of reviews on 12 breaks my heart – it was so damn hard! Look at all that science! Give me credit, darn it – at least for the twist, which ought to have been completely unexpected to everyone. (And if you guessed that it was coming, I would really really really love to know how!) But I give you thirteen nonetheless, because wow, I'm so amusing myself, and I love this chapter. And tomorrow – tomorrow in story time, possibly not real time, because I ought to do a little homework someday soon – the bachelor party! Woo-hoo! _

_I've been thinking that I ought to name my chapters. Chapter Five would have been "Gratuitous but Fun" and Chapter Nine would have been "Make Out and Make Up." This one would be "Oh, God." I couldn't make every character say it, but I sure tried. Enjoy! _

**Chapter Thirteen**

_Tuesday, sometime in the afternoon_

"All right, explain this to me again," Diana said. Physics, bleck. She really didn't know where Zane had gotten it from: it certainly wasn't genetic.

She'd arrived at Global Dynamics less than an hour earlier. She'd expected to spend a pleasant afternoon meeting Zane's future in-laws, possibly exploring Eureka a little, and certainly arranging for a rehearsal dinner to take place in two days. Instead she'd found a grim group of time travelers gathered in Fargo's office.

"Anything we do that is based on experience and knowledge from our previous universe, rather than this one, could cause a fast, intensely destructive explosion," Henry said briefly. After explaining the idea repeatedly to Carter and Jo, and then to Alison, Fargo, and Grace, he'd gotten the essence of the message down to a sentence.

"So time travelers should be sanctioned," Diana's voice was thoughtful. "You're inherently dangerous."

"Oh, God." Jo dropped her head into her hands. She chuckled, although without humor. "Just what we need."

She was sitting on the couch next to Zane, who reached out and rubbed her back comfortingly. "Not helpful, Mom," he said.

Diana shrugged. "Just thinking the problem through, dear. So you believe that creating this cooling machine caused an explosion because the fungus that gave you the idea hasn't been discovered in this universe yet?"

"Exactly," Henry confirmed.

"Hmm. And may I ask, have you sent the proposal and the video to the congressional review committee?" Diana turned to Fargo for that question.

"Oh, God." He paled. "Yes."

"So the House of Representatives could explode any time now?" her voice was perfectly calm. She could easily have been talking about the weather. Jo whimpered. Zane put his arm around her. Carter groaned. Henry and Alison exchanged worried glances and Grace covered her mouth, horrified.

Fargo rushed across the room to his computer and then paused. "What do I do? How can I stop it?" For a moment, the old Fargo was back. He looked panic-stricken.

Diana shook her head. "Relax," she said. "It can't work that way." She sat down on one of the white chairs, crossing her legs casually. "If knowledge was sufficient, then the explosion should have occurred in the infirmary when Jo was telling Zane about the ice fungus. And we're talking about congress – it'll take them forever to make a decision, so we have until then to determine our course of action. And it might not be the decision that matters."

"In fact, it can't be the decision," Henry said eagerly. He gestured to Zane. "You wrote a draft of that proposal weeks ago: you didn't explode. It's the creation that matters."

"So we have to stop Congress from approving the project?" Fargo asked. "Ouch. Five hundred million dollars – Mansfield is going to be pissed."

Diana waved her hand dismissively, expression still thoughtful. "We have time to worry about that. First things first." She frowned at Zane. "Explain to me how this affects the wedding again."

He sighed. "In Jo's original universe, she and her Zane could get married, because events led up to it."

"You're my Zane," Jo interrupted him, voice urgent.

He just looked at her, eyes sad, and continued, "But in this universe, Jo hated me. The first Jo. She wouldn't be marrying me, which means the wedding could violate the internal consistency of the universe, causing a quantum decoherence event. A big explosion."

"Hmm." Diana paused. "This is a bit of a digression, but – what happened to that Jo? Where did she go? And, of course, all the rest of you, too. Where are your – well, original, if you will – selves?" She looked from Zane to Henry to Fargo, all of whom were exchanging blank looks. "All right, we'll worry about that one later, too." She turned back to Zane.

"So your theory about the explosion rests on the idea that the original Jo wouldn't marry you?"

"Uh, yeah, pretty much."

For a moment, Diana looked lost in thought. The room was quiet. The time travelers had been talking about the ramifications of this idea for hours and none of them had anything more to contribute. Carter and Alison were sitting together and Carter had his arm around Alison; Grace and Henry were standing by the glass window, Grace holding Henry's hand firmly; Fargo was next to his computer; Zane and Jo were on the couch, Zane's arm around Jo, Jo looking at him intently. Diana looked around the room.

Then she looked at Jo. "People, at their core, they are who they are," she said slowly. "If this theory is correct, then somewhere, your world exists, with the Zane you knew in it. Do you want to try to get back to him?"

"Oh, God," Alison's hand flew up and covered her mouth. "That means that Kevin and Jenna…oh, God."

"Ally," Carter pulled her closer, his face worried.

"There's no reason to believe it's even possible," Diana said hastily. "Right?" She looked at Henry for confirmation.

He nodded, on a long exhale of breath. "If we tried – not that we have any idea of even how to try – we could just as easily wind up in some different Eureka entirely."

"It doesn't matter," said Jo. "No! No. This is my Eureka now. And this is my Zane." She looked at him.

Diana nodded. "What do you think, Grace?" she asked, turning toward Henry's partner.

"Me?" Grace looked startled.

"You're the only one of us, beside Zane, who knew the original version of Jo. Could she have ever married him?"

"Oh, God," Grace bit her lip and sighed. "I – I'm not sure I knew her all that well. But…" she looked at Jo and Zane sitting on the couch together, and sighed again, then looked at Henry.

"It's really important to get this right, sweetheart," he said.

"Yes, I know," she said. "Reverend Harper won't like it much if we demolish the church." Looking at Jo and Zane, she closed her eyes briefly, then opened them.

"You," she said pointedly to Zane, "were a jackass. You have your good side, definitely - like everyone else at GD, I call you when I have computer trouble. But half the things you got in trouble for were just stupid. And you –" she turned her attention to Jo, "—were incredibly uptight. But the two of you together? Yeah. You were fifth graders with crushes. You were the boy who pulls the girl's hair and you were the girl who slapped him instead of flirting." She looked at the two of them and smiled wryly. "I'll take my chances and come to the wedding."

Diana bit back a smile, while Jo closed her eyes in relief and Zane grinned.

"Would you let – Jenna? – come to the wedding?" Diana looked at Alison for confirmation of the name, and then turned to Grace.

Grace looked serious again and frowned. The room was quiet while everyone waited for her response, until she slowly shook her head. "No." She sighed. "I'm sorry, Jo, Zane. I – I think I'm sure," she said, frustrated, "but I'm not sure enough that I'd risk a baby."

"That's okay," said Diana. "We're partway there. We've accepted the possibility that in this universe, Jo and Zane might have gotten married." She looked at Zane. "The people who know you best…" she mused. She looked around the room, her gaze resting on each of the occupants, one after another.

Finally, she stood, dusting off her hands, decision made. "Your brother," she said to Jo.

"Excuse me?" Jo asked, clearly with no idea what Diana was talking about.

"Parents don't really know their children," Diana said. "We think we do, but we don't. And the people you're closest to – they're useless, because they've come from your universe, too. But your brother hasn't. The Jo he knows is the original – the real Jo, if you will. If he can accept that you're marrying Zane, than the universe probably can, too." She smiled at Zane and added sweetly, "You have three days to convince Jo's brother that Jo should marry you."

"Oh, God," he groaned.

"Or," she suggested, "You can come up with an alternate theory that would explain the explosion. That would work, too."


	14. Chapter 14

_A/N: Thanks for all the reviews on 12 & 13 - I'm so glad you liked them! _

**Chapter Fourteen**

_Wednesday, very early _

_Thwack. Thwack. Bash. _Two rapid roundhouse kicks, followed by an uppercut. _Bash, bash, bash._ Three fast jabs, alternating hands. _Thwack, thud. _A spinning heel kick, followed by a straight knee strike. Ah, that was satisfying. _Thud, thud, thud. _Three straight knee strikes in a row.

"Working that bag pretty hard, big sis."

Jo grabbed the tear drop punching bag with both hands to still it, and paused, resting her head against the bag. She was breathing hard, lightly sheened with sweat everywhere, except where she was drenched with it.

"Want to tell me about it?"

Jo straightened, turning to look at her brother. "I can't," she said simply. "It's this town, it –" She stopped, shaking her head.

"My security clearance is pretty high," he offered.

She smiled at him. "Nobody's security clearance is high enough for this." She turned back to the bag and gave it two more quick kicks. _Thwack, thwack. _

"It's not the wedding?" he asked.

"No." It was a lie, of course, but she soothed her internal distress at lying to her brother by telling herself that it was the right answer to the question he was asking. It wasn't the wedding: it was the idea of alternate universes meeting explosively. And she couldn't tell him – not just because of the need to keep the time travel a secret, which was even more important now that they realized that knowledge from one timeline could cause problems in another, but also because she couldn't put that kind of pressure on him. How fair would that be? Hey, bro, decide if I should get married and if you get it wrong, be prepared to blow up a church full of people?

"Dinner last night was interesting," he offered.

She chuckled. "You could say that." She turned back to him, grinning. "Dad and Zane's mom – could they possibly be more different?"

"She was great about it. Dad was doing his best to piss her off. Both of them, really. But she just got sweeter and sweeter." Rob took a couple more steps into the room.

"I wish I'd known in high school that the aikido approach worked so well. The more Dad tried to push her buttons, the more she was pushing his." Jo picked up a small towel and wiped the sweat off her face. It looked as if her workout was done for now.

"Did you know that Zane's dad was a professor? Dad's rant about the liberal intelligentsia was great, even for him."

"Yeah, Zane never talks about his dad so that was a surprise. I'm not sure what I thought he did, but – well, he and Zane don't get along. I guess we'll get a chance to find out why on Thursday. He's flying in for the wedding late tomorrow." Jo dropped the towel.

"He was pretty quiet last night while Dad and Diana were going at it." Rob's eyes were worried, and Jo tried to smile at him.

"His project – well, we're all kind of worried."

"You'll figure it out," he said confidently. "You always do."

"Thanks, little bro." Stepping toward him, she wrapped her arms around him and leaned into him, wishing she could tell him the truth. Surprised, he hugged her back, and for just a moment, she closed her eyes and relaxed into the warmth and comfort of knowing that her family was with her.

* * *

_Wednesday, late afternoon_

Jo paced anxiously up and down the hallway by Rostand's station. Where the hell was he? She hadn't been able to answer her phone when he called – her wedding dress had been half on, half off for the final fitting – but the message he left said that he had something to show her. He'd sounded troubled.

He wasn't the only one. Since her early morning conversation with her brother she'd been thinking hard. It wasn't that her brother didn't know her well enough: she was sure he did. But resting the fate of every person she knew in Eureka on his shoulders?

"Jo, what are you – "

"Zane!" Startled to see him, Jo frowned. Wasn't he supposed to be with Rob? And then getting ready for the bachelor party? But then she let those thoughts go, and hurriedly said, "I'm so glad to see you."

"I'm always glad to see you," he answered, eyes warm.

"We have to talk."

A flicker of uncertainty crossed his face, and despite her worry, she smiled, holding up one hand to forestall whatever he was going to say, "I know, you hate that, every guy's least favorite sentence – but really, we have to talk." Smile fading, she rushed on, looking around her for anyone close enough to overhear. "This whole alternate universe thing, and the possibility that we could create another explosion like the one that destroyed your lab – I just don't think we can take the chance. It doesn't make sense."

Zane looked blank, and Jo sighed. "We don't need to get married," she pointed out. "There's no rush and if there's any risk – well, it's just not worth it. I mean, I accepted your mom's logic yesterday, because I really, really want to marry you." She stepped closer to him, looking up into his eyes. "I want our life together to begin, too. But I think we need to –"

Zane put one finger across her lips, silencing her. "Don't worry about it."

She took a step back, "Um, we have to worry about it. We're talking about an explosion that could destroy the church and everyone in it. We can't be that selfish."

"I'll figure it out. I have an idea." He looked down the hallway behind them. Someone was approaching. "We can't talk about it now," he said hurriedly, "But I'll call you later. Or tomorrow."

Jo glanced over her shoulder and sighed. "All right," she said, "But call me early tomorrow. If we're going to cancel, we need to start telling people."

"We're not going to cancel," he said firmly. He looked again at the security guard who had almost reached them. "It's going to be fine." Leaning down, he brushed a kiss against her lips and then hurried away.

Jo sighed, watching him go, and then turned to the security guard. "Why weren't you at your post?" she said accusingly. "And where's Rostand?"

"Sorry, ma'am," he apologized. "I received a call about a disturbance down in Lab 20. And Rostand's off-duty now." Hurrying behind the security desk, he glanced at his computer screen. "I think he's headed to the party, so you might be able to catch him in the rotunda."

"The party?"

"Dr. Donovan's bachelor party," the guard confirmed. He sighed. "Sounds like it's going to be a great time. I wish I wasn't working." Jo frowned at him and he added hastily, "Of course, I love my job, ma'am, always happy to be at work."

"Ooo-kay," Jo raised her eyebrows at him. Turning, she started up to the rotunda, and then stopped and asked, "What was the disturbance?"

"I don't know. No one was there. I looked around for a bit but it all seemed quiet. The caller didn't give me a name, or I'd call back and confirm."

"Well, if something's going on, we'll hear about it," Jo said slowly. She headed down the hallway, still worrying.

A female scientist that Jo didn't recognize passed her. Jo glanced after her. Had she just imagined that dirty look? No one could know about the alternate universe and the risk they were thinking about taking. In the elevator, another female scientist sniffed loudly and looked disapproving. Jo frowned. When the door opened and the woman got off, Jo knew for sure that she hadn't imagined the muttered, "Sexist," that the scientist said by way of farewell.

The crowd in the rotunda came as a surprise. There must have been a hundred people milling around, maybe more. A hundred people? No, a hundred men. Another female scientist, waiting for the elevator, glared at Jo, eyes narrowed, and said huffily, "So unfair," as she got on.

Jo's mouth dropped open. She looked through the crowd, finally spotting Fargo, and made a beeline toward him.

"You – what are you doing?" she spluttered.

"We hired shuttle buses," he explained, bouncing on his toes as he beamed at the crowd. "I decided it'd be simpler that way. It's like an hour drive and arranging car pools just seemed too complicated."

Jo looked around at all the excited scientists. They were all talking and cheerful, the energy in the room almost palpable. "What did you do, invite all of GD?"

"Um, no," answered Fargo. "Just the guys. You said no women. Wow, and some of them are really pissed about it. I hope you don't mind that I'm telling them all to take it up with you. Most of them are kind of scared of you, so they probably won't."

"You – " Jo just stared at him. "You invited all the guys at GD to Zane's bachelor party?"

"Well, and some other people, too, of course. Carter, your dad and brother, Vincent…you know, anyone I thought might have fun."

"Fargo, are you insane?"

"Well, it turned out that it was pretty cheap to rent the whole place for the evening – a lot cheaper than paying per person. So it just made sense to do it this way.

Larry, clipboard in hand, passed them. He was organizing the crowd loudly. "Sign-up sheets are passing around: pick your teams and select times. The Call of Duty tournament will start promptly at 9, so if you plan to play in the tournament, do not choose a laser tag spot for any time after 8:40. You'll be able to sign up again after you lose, which you all will, because I am going to rule." He smirked.

"Laser tag? You're playing laser tag? And Call of Duty? But I love laser tag!"

"I know!" Fargo smiled. "That's why it's so perfect. For the rest of his life, Zane will always have to play with you and he'll always get his butt kicked because you always win. This is his last chance to have fun on his own."

"That's – bachelor parties are supposed to be –" Jo couldn't even find the words.

"Zane doesn't drink, you said no strippers, so…" Fargo shrugged. "You're having a shower. Facials and manicures at the spa, right?" He grinned at her. "You go have fun, because we definitely will."

_A/N2: The scene with Diana and Jo's Dad didn't move the story forward, so it didn't get written - it does sound like fun, though, so maybe I'll write it later as an outtake (or deleted scene, I forget the difference...) And that last line of Fargo's feels a little out of character to me - is he rubbing it in too much? But I wanted to post, or otherwise I'll spend my whole day tweaking! Next up, either the actual bachelor party or the rehearsal dinner - I'm not sure which. I guess it depends whether I can write a convincing laser tag scene, never having played it myself, or whether my desire to introduce Zane's dad outweighs any clues I needed to drop at the party...hmm..._


	15. Chapter 15

_A/N: What did I say in Chapter One - insanely layered? I think this chapter is the last layer and from here on out, we're in the end game. Those of you who have kept your eye on the doppelgangers in the title have been right all along, but please remember that Jo doesn't know what the title is! _

_Also, my anxiety level about this chapter is incredibly high - if I've finally crossed over into too damn complicated, please tell me so. We've got four more (I think) chapters to go, and - as with Henry's quick summary of the problem in Ch13 - I'll try to work clarifications in if they seem to be needed. _

**Chapter Fifteen**

Sometimes being a super-genius sucked.

Zane accepted the laughing congratulations and friendly jokes due a bachelor party's guest of honor with his easiest grins, but he was running on auto-pilot, his brain working ceaselessly on the horrifying physics problem the universe had presented him with.

He'd accepted his mom's logic yesterday quietly. It was so very like her to find the loopholes in any dilemma. But he'd been following her other train of thought – the one about congress not being in danger – to its obvious conclusion.

Assume that his postulate was correct: creating a paradox would cause quantum decoherence, a molecular level deconstruction of the matter of the paradox with a concurrent traumatic release of energy. The paradox couldn't be knowledge-based or the time travelers would have been exploding all over town the moment they arrived. What people thought – or the decisions they made or how they perceived the world – was irrelevant, or they wouldn't have lasted the first twenty-four hours. No, the paradox had to be matter-based: an object, not an idea.

And while it might be romantic to say that a marriage ceremony created a new family, fundamentally it didn't change the physical universe. Despite his first reaction and regardless of whether Rob approved or not, getting married was probably safe.

No, the real danger was if Zane and Jo created a physical paradox: a matter-based object that existed in a time and a place where it wasn't supposed to be. For if time travel was possible, and the self-consistency principle didn't apply, then on a quantum level this universe was fixed. It couldn't change. And yet – they were changing it. They had changed it. They could never know now what should have happened, what the timeline would be like if there had been no time travel. Nothing could put them back on the path that they would have been on without the bridge device. And that was probably okay – the lack of explosions certainly made it appear okay – as long as they didn't actually do anything that fundamentally violated the timeline. Like create a super-cooling unit. Or like…create a person.

He wondered if the explosion would happen at conception or at birth or somewhere in between? Which would be worse?

Wait, he'd thought of something worse. Maybe the decoherence would happen only when it wouldn't further damage the timeline. An explosion while Jo was pregnant would kill her, and if she was meant to live – maybe the decoherence would happen the first time the baby was left alone? Oh, that was a great thought.

Yeah, sometimes being a super-genius sucked. It meant having too damn many ideas.

_Ding, buzz._ Damn, that was his last point, and death. Playing laser tag while distracted kinda sucked, too. He definitely wasn't doing justice to Fargo's carefully planned party. With a sigh, he headed toward the door, shrugging noncommittally at one of his grumbling teammates as he moved through the darkness.

As he passed through the doorway that separated the arena from the noisy arcade and seating areas, he felt a clap on his shoulder and turned his head to see Rob grinning at him. "I'd tell you you suck, but I bet you know it already."

Zane tried to smile back, but it wasn't easy. He was actually pretty good at laser tag when his head was in the game. After all, it was all about strategy and physics – not exactly out of his league. "What are you doing out here?" he asked instead. "Shouldn't you be in there demolishing my teammates?"

"Eh, they never had much of a chance." Rob was quickly shucking himself out of the gear, tossing his equipment in the direction of the rack. "My dad'll have fun wiping them out." He put a firm hand under Zane's elbow and started steering him in the direction of a quiet table toward the back. "And I wanted to talk to you."

_Uh-oh._ Would this be the "hurt my sister and I'll make you suffer the endless torments of hell" speech? Zane held back a sigh and followed along, sliding into a chair without complaint.

"What's going on?" Rob's words were abrupt. "Jo's unhappy, you're unhappy, what's the deal?"

Well, that was unexpected. "I – don't know what you mean," Zane prevaricated. A loud roar from the other room indicated that something exciting had happened in the Call of Duty tournament.

Rob just looked at him. Zane shifted uncomfortably. He recognized that look – it was very similar to Jo's best "mess with me and I'll damage you" look. He hoped Rob didn't have a Taser handy.

Abruptly, Rob smiled. "Want to know the first time I ever heard your name?"

_Um, yeah._ Zane knew that this Jo, his Jo, was not the Jo he'd first met, and he was quite clear on which Jo he was in love with, but damn straight he wanted to know what the Enforcer had said about him.

"Well, the first time I remember hearing your name." Rob corrected himself, "Maybe she'd mentioned you before." In the background, Zane could hear Larry ranting about weapons.

"Whichever, yeah." Zane shrugged. What could it have been? The underwear he'd sent her on his first day in Eureka?

"You beat her at laser tag."*

Zane thought back and then started to grin. "I remember that," he said. It had been a random Saturday, a few months after he'd arrived in Eureka. He'd run into her and Taggart here, at this exact laser tag arena. "She was pissed."

"She was sure you'd cheated."

Zane rolled his eyes. "It's laser tag, what would be the point?" More cheers in the background: that couldn't be Larry winning, but maybe someone had just knocked him out of the game?

"Exactly," Rob agreed. "I guess that's what Taggart told her, too. But Jo doesn't like losing."

"No, she doesn't," Zane agreed. "But there's only so much you can do with a lousy team." He was smiling at the memory, remembering Jo's furious face and Taggart holding her back. That might have been when he'd discovered how much fun it was to make Jo mad.

"Right. So you know what I know?" Rob asked, his voice serious again. "I know that you're good enough at laser tag to annoy my sister, and that means that what you were doing tonight was bullshit."

Zane grimaced. Okay, so he really hadn't been paying attention. But hey, it was his party. Calling him on it was uncool.

"I also know that you're not stupid." Rob's voice had switched to determination. "My dad was in there. He now thinks you're a colossal idiot. You ought to care about that, and you didn't, so that means that something else was more important to you. What was it? That's what I want to know."

Zane opened his mouth and then closed it again. _Wow._ He knew that Jo was sometimes intimidated by the knowledge of the scientists in Eureka, but he'd thought before that she should give herself more credit for her intuition. Her brother apparently had the same gift.

Rob snapped his fingers a couple of times. "Stop thinking about it," he ordered. "Just tell me."

Zane chuckled faintly and shook his head. "I really can't. But –"

Maybe he should ask? At the very least, he could probably find out whether Rob thought Jo – the first Jo – would marry him and even though he no longer thought the wedding was the problem, it'd still be good to be sure. "Skipping all the classified details that you really can't know, it's possible that the explosion the other day means that we shouldn't – or maybe can't – have children." He leaned back in the chair and rubbed his hands over his face. God, he was tired. If only he'd gotten more sleep in the last few weeks.

"Oh." The sound was flat.

Zane's mouth twisted.

"Adopt," Rob said firmly.

Zane stared at him. "Tell me that your dad would say the same thing."

Rob closed his eyes for a second, then opened them and shook his head. "Can't," he said wryly. "But Jo wants to marry you anyway, so forget my dad."

Zane shook his head. "Jo's stubborn. She'll never back out. But maybe she should."

Rob was silent for a moment. "Why do you want to marry my sister?"

Zane looked away and tried not to laugh. Yeah, no way was he going to tell her brother why he wanted to marry her. Not the whole truth anyway. "Because I love her?" he offered. He supposed, in a way, it was the whole truth, at least if the sometimes uncomfortable and unending lust he felt for Jo could be considered part of love.

"What do you love about her?" Rob asked.

Zane paused. Now that was a more interesting question. "She's a marshmallow," he said slowly. "Everyone at GD thinks she's so strong. Half the people there are scared of her. And she is strong. But – you know, I think she misses being a deputy because part of that job was about helping people. Lost kids, nervous old ladies home alone – inside that tough exterior is the warmest, softest, squishiest, …"

"Oi, Zane."**

Zane looked up. Taggart was standing by the table, hand outstretched. Zane took it, a little warily. He and Taggart hadn't ever been exactly friendly and since Zane had gotten together with Jo, they'd spoken only rarely.

"Congratulations, Zane, I wish you and Jo the best."

"Thanks, Taggart," Zane acknowledged the sentiment, and then nodded toward Rob. "Have you met Jo's brother?"

"You must be Rob," Taggart reached out and shook Rob's hand enthusiastically. "A pleasure, mate. Heard so much about you."

"You're Taggart?" Rob looked surprised and Zane smirked. Jo had perhaps skipped a few details when writing home about her old boyfriend.

_Ding, ding, ding, ding._ Zane's vest started beeping insistently, and he sighed. The game must be over and they were signaling for him to turn the vest in for the next team. But what an annoying sound. _Ding, ding._ As his fingers fumbled with the clasps of the vest, he paused. Sound. What an annoying sound…

"I need to get back to GD," he said abruptly. "Did you drive here?" he asked Taggart.

"Nope, I took the bus."

"You?" Zane asked Rob.

Rob shook his head. "Bus."

Zane looked around the room almost frantically. Who could get him back to GD? Quickly? Standing, he pushed back the chair so hard it almost fell over. "I've got to go." He stuck out his hand to Rob. "You can tell her what to do," he offered. "If you tell her not to, she'll listen, I think."

Rob looked thoughtful. "I'll keep it in mind," he said slowly.

Zane nodded. Turning, he hurried away. He'd spotted Carter, across the room at an old-fashioned pinball machine. There was no way Carter had taken the bus.

In the jeep, siren on, Carter tried asking once, "What's the hurry?"

"I think – " Zane shook his head. "It doesn't make any sense but I might have figured out another way the explosion could have happened. But the only way to be sure will be to test the radiation levels as quickly as possible. It could be too late already, if the half-life of whatever the active ingredient was is already past. Henry said acetone was the primary strange element he found, but that has to be a solvent for something else. Under ultraviolet light, acetone's half-life is something like 22 days so that's…"***

"Not understanding a word, Zane," Carter interrupted him.

"Right," Zane glanced at him. "Just drive fast, okay?" He started tapping on the dashboard as he thought. Okay, this was a great idea. A really, really great idea. But Kwon was dead. And – although he probably should have followed up – Zane had been too busy to pursue Kwon's research.

"Is there a short version you can share?" Carter's tone was just barely sarcastic.

Zane grinned at him. "Sonoluminescence."****

"Like the bats?" Carter asked, surprised.

"Yep," Zane nodded. "I'm just not sure…" his voice drifted off.

"What?" Carter asked patiently.

"How." Zane shook his head. "I never figured out how Kwon blew himself up, just that it was probably the sound from the bats. Figuring out sonoluminescence – well, that's a damn impressive trick. If someone used it to blow up my lab –" he sighed. "This is probably wishful thinking." His voice was gloomy.

In less time than Zane would have thought possible, Carter was pulling up in front of GD. "Want me to come in with you?" he offered.

"Nah," Zane said. "I'm just gonna run some tests. It'll take a while. I'll call you and tell you what I find out tomorrow."

Down in his lab, Zane kicked through the ash on the floor. There was a lot of metal, but not much else. Could someone have figured out how to use liquid nitrogen as the liquid in bubble fusion?

"Who the hell could have figured out sonoluminesence?" he asked himself out loud. The question was rhetorical. But the answer was not.

"You could have," the voice came from the doorway behind him.

Zane turned hastily and then stopped, dumbfounded. "Okay, that's just weird."

* * *

_* I know Fargo thought that Jo would always beat Zane at laser tag, but apparently he was wrong. _

_** Okay, I don't understand why this is, but I really hate writing Taggart. He just mystifies me. So after spending an hour – literally – staring at this blank space where Taggart needs to show up and meet Rob, I'm just writing crap to fill in the space. If it doesn't sound like Tag, imagine the dialog being whatever you think he'd say. These three lines have killed me for long enough. _

_*** Acetone is used as a solvent, and its half-life is 22 days. But the rest of this is Eureka science. _

_**** Yes, I'm being self-referential yet again. See _The BOUS Problem_ for all the details, but the short version is that theoretically, if you use high-intensity sound to agitate bubbles in liquid, you could create thermonuclear fusion. Uncontrolled, you might have a nice high-intensity explosion. But no one really knows how to do this. _


	16. Chapter 16

_A/N: This chapter is a little disjointed, but the rehearsal dinner had gotten overwhelming and I decided to unpack it a little. I admit, though, the Diana part is just a tease – you should now have all the clues you need to guess who Zane's father is modeled after! _

**Chapter 16 **

_Thursday, mid-morning_

Really, Diana adored her son. He'd been the cutest baby: those blue eyes, the round cheeks, the incredible soft velvet feel of the dark down on his sweet-smelling baby head. And the toddler had been madly charming with his interminable "what dat?" and "why?" and "me do, me do." (Okay, the temper tantrums were a little less charming, but she'd tried to consider determination to be a character strength.) And the six-year-old – well, watching her little boy try to build a nuclear reactor out of Legos and household chemicals had been downright enchanting.

But good God, could nothing he did ever be easy?

This should have been so simple: a small family wedding, what could be more pleasant? But first there was the rather catastrophic physics problem and now the weather was interfering with her arrangements. The weather! It felt almost like a personal insult from the universe.

"Darling, I really believe that you can solve this problem." She tried to keep her voice patient, but even she could hear the edge to it.

"Di, there's a blizzard. The airport is closed. No flights are leaving. There's not much I can do about it."

"And if you were in the Himalayas? Would you manage then?" The patience was eroding quickly.

"Diana," he started, his tone wary.

"Henry," she snapped. "Figure it out. I could have gotten you on a military flight from Washington, but no, you wanted to fly commercial."

"Those planes are so damn uncomfortable," he groaned. "We had to take a C-130 Hercules for the first leg and you know I hate those web seats."

"I sympathize. But your comfort is no excuse for missing your son's wedding." While talking, she'd been using her smart phone to research the problem. "It looks as if the storm is centered over Denver. There's an Air Force base in Cheyenne. I'll call the commander and see what I can do for you, but you're going to need to get there."

"How do you propose we do that?"

"Darling, you're an intelligent man in excellent company. If the three of you can't figure out how to manage a minor logistical problem in the middle of the United States, this country is in very big trouble. I'll expect you in time for dinner this evening."

* * *

"I just don't like it." Henry scribbled a few more equations on the digital blackboard in his garage, and then stepped back to stare at it speculatively.

"The wedding?" Fargo asked.

"No, no," Henry answered. "I think we've all agreed by now that the risk of quantum decoherence at the wedding is so low as to be irrelevant. Despite our initial concern, it's the obvious conclusion. But I just don't like the decoherence at all."

"Well, no one does," Fargo pointed out. "The idea of causing molecules to randomly destabilize didn't exactly let me sleep well."

"I think that was all that pizza," Henry glanced at him. "I can't imagine why you thought pineapple, red pepper and blue cheese would go well together."

"Eh, I told the pizza place to send enough pizza for everyone and to mix it up a little. That was their idea. But it wasn't half bad." Fargo shrugged.

"I'd call it all bad, myself. But no, I just don't like the conclusions we've drawn. While Novikov's self-consistency principle is a problem, I'm not comfortable with the alternate quantum reality theory." Henry put down his stylus and turned away from the board. "It seems dehumanizing."*

"What do you mean?"

"If, in a multitude of alternate worlds, every possible decision is made, than nothing we do matters at all. Free will becomes fundamentally irrelevant."

"If the explanation fits…" Fargo looked doubtful.

"I'm willing to believe in a deterministic universe but chaos theory makes far more sense to me. A small change in a dynamical system can result in widely diverging outcomes. If time is a dynamical system, then our small change of removing Dr. Grant from 1947 created a different future. But still on a single timeline." Henry gestured passionately as he spoke.

"That doesn't explain the explosion, though." Fargo pointed out.

"No. No, it doesn't." Henry shook his head. "But I think we should keep looking. There must be another answer." Turning back to the board, he erased the equations with a wave of his hand.

"Where's Zane?" asked Fargo. "We could really use his help with this."

Henry picked up his stylus again. "I'm not sure. Getting ready for the big day tomorrow, perhaps? He called this morning and shared his theory that the wedding would be safe, but he got off the phone quite abruptly."

"He probably has a lot to do. And as long as we're sure that we're not risking any more explosions, we can wait until next week to figure it out." Fargo's words sounded strong and confident, but then he added, "We are sure, aren't we?"

"As sure as we can be without a theory that makes sense." Henry sighed as he started to scribble new equations on the board. "I wonder if it's too late to run some radiation tests?"

* * *

"All right, what the hell happened last night?" Jo whispered to Rob fiercely, pulling him back a step. They were on their way into Café Diem for an early lunch after what had been one of the odder mornings Jo could remember.

Her dad, who had filled his first two days in Eureka with prognostications of doom, dire warnings about getting married too quickly, and mumblings about bad choices, had been almost cheerful. He hadn't said a word about the wedding or about Zane and in the car, on the way to town, he'd asked quite calmly about the plans for the rehearsal later in the afternoon.

Rob shrugged. "Not sure what you mean."

"Come off it. Yesterday Dad hated Zane and today he's fine?"

Rob grinned. "Well, it wasn't the laser tag."

Jo frowned. "What does that mean? Zane's good at laser tag. I mean not as good as me – or you or Dad – but he holds his own."

"Or maybe it was the laser tag," Rob said thoughtfully. "Dad did get to shoot him a few dozen times, maybe he got it out of his system."

Jo glared at him. "I'm serious."

Her dad stuck his head back out the door of Café Diem. "You kids coming?" he asked.

"We'll be right there, Dad," Rob answered, waiting for their father to go back inside before continuing. "I don't think it has anything to do with Zane."

Jo looked questioning.

"We met Taggart last night."

Jo raised her eyebrows. "And?"

"You kinda skipped a few details when you were dating Taggart," Rob pointed out. "Like, oh, I don't know, the fact that he's older than Dad is?"

Jo's lips shaped an oh of realization. She'd wondered if she'd mentioned that – apparently not. Yep, her parents had married young and Taggart probably did have a few years on her father. "Taggart's a great guy," she said, instinctively defending him. She didn't want to be married to Taggart, but she still liked him.

"Yeah, well, I think Dad realized there might be worse things than having a reformed criminal for a son-in-law," Rob answered, holding the door open for her to go in and grinning at her. "Like having someone older than him calling him Dad."

* * *

_* If those words sound familiar, it's because, yes, I steal from everywhere, including reviews. Thanks, ZeroGain! Henry was always going to object to the quantum decoherence idea eventually, but you said it very nicely. _


	17. Chapter 17

_A/N: I'm sorry to tell you this, but I'm still not saying who Zane saw. You'll find out eventually. But this is the most you'll ever learn about Zane's dad – if you can't get it from this, it'll just have to stay a mystery. _

_This story feels kind of like a marathon where I'm at the 24__th__ mile, and so very tempted to say, the hell with it, 24 miles is pretty darn good, right? No one really cares about the last two, right? But you get this chapter courtesy of Insane Certifiably who reviewed just as I was about to give up and go watch television. She or he (or you) kept me writing for another half hour, so thank you! _

**Chapter Seventeen**

The rehearsal had gone beautifully.

Jo felt as if she might be glowing with happiness. Zane had met up with them at Café Diem, and they'd spent the afternoon sitting by the fire telling stories. Okay, so she hadn't been all that excited about having Rob share every calamity of her childhood, but Zane had been on his best behavior and it had been fun to hear his perspective on some of the experiences he'd had with her alternate self. Zane and Rob had obviously hit it off and even her dad had offered a grudging, "He's not so bad," in the car on the way to the church.

Best of all, of course, was that Zane had grabbed a private moment to assure her that the wedding could go on as planned and that there was no danger of an explosion. With Rob and her dad right there, he hadn't gone into details, but he hadn't needed to: Jo didn't care about the science, she just cared that it was safe.

At the church, Reverend Harper had instructed them on the details for the ceremony. Jo had tried to pay attention, but the bubbles of happiness kept getting in the way. Well, it wasn't like it was complicated – walk down the aisle on her dad's arm, then turn to face Zane, taking his hands, while the reverend spoke the words that would seal their bond in the eyes of the world. She thought she could manage that.

Now they were on their way to the rehearsal dinner. Diana had discovered quickly that Eureka's restaurant options were non-existent – the competition from Café Diem killed off even the kind of elegant restaurant she'd been looking for. Rather than driving miles out of town for a lesser option, though, she'd arranged to use the dining room at the bed and breakfast and borrow Virtual Vincent, and because of the uncertainty about whether the wedding would go on, she'd kept the plans small, only inviting Jo's family and Zoe and Fargo.

Jo turned into the oval driveway and parked in front of the B&B. As they stepped out of her car, Rob and Joseph continuing the conversation they'd been having about the latest in body armor, Zane pulled up next to them. As he got off his bike, he tugged off his helmet. He was frowning, and he rubbed his head, behind his ear, along his neck, almost as if he had a headache.

"Are you okay?" Jo asked, spotting the motion.

"Ah, yeah," he said, as if she'd startled him. "Yeah, fine," he grinned at her, and Jo felt another rush of pleasure. She reached out and slipped her hand into his, smiling at him. Together they headed toward the door.

Diana was pacing along the porch, phone to her ear, frustration evident on her face. When she saw them, she snapped her phone shut and tried to smile.

"What's going on?" Jo asked.

"Zane's father is not answering his phone." Diana greeted Rob and Joseph warmly as they climbed the few steps to the door, and then turned back to Jo and Zane with a sigh. "I suppose we can start dinner without him, but he's bringing your wedding present."

Zane shrugged, as Joseph and Rob went inside. "You can always give it to us later."

Diana looked puzzled. "No, this is the wedding present you asked me to get for Jo. Remember?" The final word was pointed. She looked at him meaningfully.

Zane looked blank. He rubbed his neck again, finally saying, "Ah, right. Right."

"Ooh, a present just for me," Jo laughed, looking up at Zane, and leaning into him. "What did you get me?"

He didn't answer. Diana started, sounding bewildered, "Zane, do you –"

"It's a surprise," he said hastily. "You'll see when it gets here." He smiled down at Jo and held the door open for her. Fargo and Zoe were just arriving, so Diana turned to greet them, but Jo could see the effort she was making to put a friendly smile on her face, as she glanced back at Zane, still looking puzzled.

With everyone inside, they moved to the back of the house, to a lovely room with French doors opening onto a screened porch. Virtual Vincent was bustling around with a tray of appetizers, including Zane's favorite toasted peanut butter with bacon. A table was set, but for the moment they avoided sitting, while Diana spoke to Virtual Vincent and Fargo began chatting to Rob and Joseph.

"Wow," Zoe was looking out the window. "Hot guy alert." Then she grinned at Jo. "Oops, cancel that. You're not allowed to look anymore."

"I can always look," Jo responded, and glanced out the window. A helicopter had landed in the back yard, and three men were getting out. The first two were in uniform, but with the classic green beret that marked them as special forces. The third, older man was wearing a brown leather flight jacket, much like the one Carter wore every day, and a fedora.

"Oh, wow," Zoe said. "Look-alikes. Two of an incredibly good thing. That's amazing."

For a moment, Jo couldn't breathe.

"Oh, good," Diana had come up behind them. She sounded relieved. "They got here. And in time for dinner."

Jo turned toward her. "You – they –" She couldn't find the words. Her eyes felt abruptly full.

Diana smiled at her, almost shyly. "It's a bit transitory, not like china or linens or whatever it is that mother-in-laws are supposed to give their future daughter-in-laws. But Zane thought it was what you would like best."

Jo just nodded, pressing her lips together hard. She couldn't speak or she would surely cry.

"Jo?" Zoe hadn't figured it out. "What's wrong?"

Jo shook her head. Nothing was wrong. All was very much right. If she thought she'd been happy before, it was because she hadn't realized how much happier she could be.

"Let's go out and collect them," Diana suggested. She glanced back at the men in the room, so Jo did, too. They were still too engrossed in their conversation to have noticed the helicopter. Zane was the only exception. He was standing by the door to the front, rubbing his neck again, and looking distracted. Diana leaned toward Jo and said quietly, "We might want to use your brothers to keep your father away from Zane's father. And possibly Zane away from his father. The arguments are likely to get tedious otherwise."

Jo grinned. "I promise you, my dad isn't going to be arguing with anyone tonight." Her father was going to be over the moon. While she couldn't remember the last time her whole family had been together, it was certainly measured in years. Had it been the twins' high school graduation? Maybe.

"Jo?" Zoe was still confused.

Jo widened her eyes at her. "Those are my baby brothers. I'd say hands off, but –" she shrugged. "They're actually not too much too old for you. So have fun. Just no breaking hearts!"

A chaotic half hour later, everyone was sitting down to dinner. Virtual Vincent had gotten increasingly agitated as the greetings and conversation continued, but was now serving plates of chicken marsala and pasta with relief.

Diana had gotten distracted at a key moment, Jo noticed. With seven men and three women, the numbers were never going to be balanced, but if Diana had been arranging the seating, Jo's father and Zane's father would not have been seated together. As it was, Zoe was between Nick and Marco, happily flirting away; Jo was between Fargo and Rob, watching everything around her with a warm glow of delight; and Diana had Zane on one side and Henry on the other, with Joseph between Henry and Fargo.

"You don't look much like a professor," Joseph said to Henry.

"Archaelogist, really. I teach at Marshall College in Connecticut, but when I can get the funding, I spent a lot of time on digs." Henry was digging into the food as if he hadn't eaten all day.

"Great grub," said Nick, handing his plate back to Virtual Vincent for seconds. He grinned at Diana. "Sorry to be a pig, but we didn't stop for lunch."

"Not a problem," Diana smiled back at him. "I told Henry I thought you'd be able to manage."

"Archaeologist?" Joseph asked, eating with almost as much enthusiasm. Virtual Vincent's food was really just as good as the real Vincent's and the chicken marsala was delicious.

"Family tradition," Henry muttered in response. "All the men in my family for generations have been archaeologists."

Jo saw Diana glance at Zane, and she looked, too, but he didn't react. He was looking at his plate, seeming to not be paying attention.

"The snowmobiles made all the difference," Marco reported. "There was no way that four-wheel drive SUV was going to make it out of Denver."

"Oh, yeah," Nick added. "There's a rental car parked in a bike store lot somewhere in Denver. Henry said you'd take care of getting it back to the rental place."

Diana bit back a sigh, and nodded. "Thank you for letting me know." She pulled out her phone and made a quick note to herself before tucking it away. Meanwhile…

"Archaeologists? But Zane's a physics guy, right?" Joseph asked.

"Physics." Henry rolled his eyes. "You've got to ask, what's the point? All these mumbo-jumbo theories of the universe. Give me some nice straightforward history any day. Archaeology – archaeology is discovering the lost wonders of time, finds of incredible historical significance. And science – there's just no imagination in science. There's more to this world than scientists can ever wrap their heads around. If you'd seen –"

"Henry," snapped Diana. "That's enough, thank you." Zane still seemed to be completely oblivious, lost in thought, Jo noticed.

"Are you okay?" she tried to nudge him from across the table as she asked him the question quietly.

"Ah, yeah," he looked up, startled. It was obvious that he hadn't been paying any attention at all to the conversation.

"Eh, it's because I let you name him," Henry grumbled.

"We've had this conversation before," Diana said evenly.

"Family history," Henry said to Joseph. "Generations of Henrys – I'm the fourth. And what do I name my son? Zane."

Diana turned her powerful smile on Joseph. "Henry and I were unable to agree on a name, so while I was in labor, we wagered for the right to name the baby.* I won. Henry hasn't shut up about it since. As I've said to him, more than once," Diana turned her attention to Henry, smiling, but with the undercurrent of danger more than obvious, "if the name was so important to you, you really shouldn't have gambled on it."

"Yes, dear," Henry shook his head and sighed.

Jo glanced at Zane. He was showing no signs of interest in the conversation, but she was starting to understand why he and his father didn't really get along. She was surprised that he was so quiet. Zane loved science – she would have thought that he would be passionately defending it. Maybe he was being careful for the occasion?

"Zane?" she asked him again.

He looked up from his food. Once again, he rubbed his neck, before smiling at her, and starting to talk to Rob with enthusiasm.

Over an hour later, they were standing on the front porch. Jo was still happy. Her brothers were here, all three of them, and her dad, so nothing short of a nuclear explosion was going to stop her from being happy. But she was also worried. Zane was being – well, weird. There was no other word for it. She didn't think anyone else had noticed, except for maybe Diana. But it was clear to her.

While everyone was chatting, saying their good-byes and planning the next day, Jo pulled Zane a little aside.

"What's going on?" she whispered to him. "Have you figured out something about the explosion?"

"No, no," he said hastily.

"Is the wedding going to be okay?" she asked, insistently. "We shouldn't be taking the chance if –"

"No," his tone was firm. "It's fine. There's nothing to worry about."

She reached out to put her hand on his chest and a shock of static electricity darted between them. "Sparks," she smiled.

Zane looked blank.

Right, that was the wrong Zane. This Zane had never experienced the electrical virus.** She reached forward and slid her hand around his neck, pulling him down toward her. Their lips met and clung, before Jo pulled away and tried to smile.

It wasn't the alcohol on his breath. She didn't care if he drank. It had been strange when he'd accepted a flute of the champagne that Virtual Vincent was passing around – it wasn't like Zane was rabidly anti-alcohol or anything, he just wasn't interested usually – but Jo was perfectly happy to knock back a shot or two herself and didn't care if Zane did, too. But ... that was a spark-less kiss.

For the first time in her entire history with Zane, his kiss had left her cold.

And considering that she was marrying him tomorrow? Yeah, that was bad.

That was very bad.

* * *

_* I know a Zane whose name is a direct result of Buffalo beating Miami. People resolve these conflicts in all sorts of ways, so this is not as implausible as it might sound! _

_***Ship Happens. And every time I watch an old episode to find something out, I'm awed by how damn funny they are. Carter's "What? I pay attention!" is just classic. _


	18. Chapter 18

_A/N: Decisions, decisions. I have exams next week and then family coming to visit, so I know that if I don't finish in the next two days, it's going to be at least another ten days, maybe longer, before I can (or before I ought to, anyway - failing my exams is not a good plan). So I think I'm going to try to make a mad rush to the finish, but if it's a little rougher than usual, that's why - feel free to point out typos and repetitions and I'll fix them after I write the next two chapters. _

_And please review! It truly does keep me going, much better than the alternative, ie caffeine._

_By request: http:/www. davidsbridal. com/ Product_Satin-A-line-with-Chiffon-Split-Front-Overlay-V9010_Bridal-Gowns-Shop-By-Silhouette-A-Line_

_(Delete the spaces, of course. Fanfiction doesn't let us post links.) _

**Chapter Eighteen**

_Friday, late afternoon_

Jo's dress was a pure white satin, with a chiffon overlay. Snug and fitted at the top, it gradually widened in a classic A-line full skirt as it reached the ground. Lace cap sleeves drew attention to the elegant lines of her neck and shoulders, with intricate embroidery adding drama to the bodice and back. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever worn. She should have felt like a princess.

Instead she just felt worried. Something was wrong.

She was standing in the small private room off the vestibule. The church was filling rapidly, and she could hear the murmurings and chatter of the crowd. She was momentarily alone: her brothers were escorting guests into the sanctuary and Zoe hadn't arrived yet.

The day had been so very busy. Diana had made reservations at the B&B for the twins in case they wanted them, but the whole family had crowded into Jo's house instead, the twins casually bickering over who got the couch and who got the floor. Waking this morning with all her brothers there, cooking a huge breakfast, working out with them with all the accompanying laughing and showing off – she would remember it forever. It had been one of the best mornings of her life. And then the afternoon – getting ready with Zoe and Alison and all the pampering a girl could ever want, hair and make-up and giggling. It had been a dream day.

But all day long, she'd had a niggling sense of worry and now that the moment was finally here, it had burgeoned into full-blown fear.

She knew something was wrong. She just didn't know what.

Alison stuck her head in the door. "No sign of Carter and Zoe yet," she reported. They'd taken separate cars so that Alison could pick up Jenna and Kevin.

Jo just looked at her, unable to find the words.

"Are you okay?" Alison stepped into the room, an indulgent smile tugging at her lips. "You look –"

"I'm scared." The words came out as if shot from a gun.

"It's a big day," Alison's voice was soothing, and she was still smiling. Jo could tell that she didn't understand. She probably thought it was cold feet. But it wasn't. "Everyone gets nervous."

Jo shook her head. "That's not it. " She paused. Or maybe that was it. "Back when we were all hallucinating, I decided that Zane and I didn't fit. But I was wrong, wasn't I? That was just a hallucination, just my brain playing tricks on me?" Her eyes were desperate for reassurance.

"Oh, honey," Alison put an arm around Jo's shoulders. "You and Zane are really good together. Being scared is natural."

Jo pressed her hand to her stomach. Was that it? Just butterflies? Then she shook her head. "No, this is – this is more than that. Something's wrong and I just don't know what."

"Is it something wrong with Zane?" Diana had come in quietly, unheard by Jo and Alison.

Jo glanced at her, startled. "You think so, too?"

Jo could see the worry in the lines around Diana's mouth. "We spent the day together," Diana tried to smile. "The first family time we've had in years. It was a very pleasant day. Zane and Henry didn't argue once."

"That's good, isn't it?" Alison asked tentatively.

"One would think so," Diana said dryly, "but I find that I'm rather uncertain that it is." Her eyes met Jo's.

"He gets distracted sometimes," Jo started slowly. "When he's got some really big science problem he's trying to solve. Could that be it? Is he still thinking about the whole alternate universe thing?"

Alison looked worried. "I talked to Henry about that, and he's absolutely sure that there's no risk of an explosion. You know that I wouldn't have brought Kevin and Jenna if I thought there was any danger."

"Danger?" Rob had overheard the last word as he entered the room. "What sort of danger?"

"No danger," Jo said hastily, and smiled brightly. "We were just talking about the explosion from earlier in the week."

"Ah, right. Zane had mentioned ..." He looked at the two other women. "Would you mind if I had a minute alone with my sister?"

"Of course," Diana agreed. She looked at Jo, eyes still worried, and said, "I'll take my seat, but if I can help…" She left the end of the sentence up in the air, as she left the room. Jo heard her making a smiling comment to one of the twins, as they began to escort her into the church.

Alison nodded as well, "I should get back to the kids, make sure Kevin's not letting Jenna draw in the hymnals. But Jo, it's going to be fine. Really." She gave Jo a last hug, and smiled warmly at Rob as she left.

"You look beautiful," Rob started, closing the door behind Alison.

Jo glanced down at her dress. "Girl clothes," she said, smoothing the satin of the skirt.

"Yeah, you didn't get a lot of those in our house," Rob agreed. He leaned back against the door. "I'm glad you decided to go through with the wedding."

Jo looked at him in surprise. How had he known about that? They'd kept the quantum decoherence a secret from everyone who didn't already know about the time travel.

"Zane mentioned it," Rob said, obviously reading her look. "At his bachelor party."

Jo wasn't sure what to say. What exactly had Zane mentioned?

"He said that there was a chance that explosion meant you shouldn't have kids," Rob continued awkwardly, looking away from Jo, as if he was embarrassed to be having this conversation with her. Well, and he probably was – her family was more likely to run marathons together than have intimate discussions – but she was glad he had because she knew her shock would be showing on her face. What?

"I didn't want to ask him for the details, but I know that's a big deal to you. I just wanted to say that if you ever want to talk about it – well, I'm here for you." Jo stepped forward and wrapped her arms around her brother, partially to hide her face while she tried to make sense of what he had just said. He, tentatively, patted her on the back.

"That's so sweet of you, Rob, thank you," she finally said, pulling away.

"Like I said, I'm glad you decided to go through with it. I wasn't sure when you first told us you were getting married, but he seems like a good guy. And not just because he gave me veto power," he grinned.

Okay, maybe that was the explanation. If Zane had still been worried about an explosion, maybe he'd just made up a story about kids so that he had a plausible reason to suggest that Rob could get Jo to cancel the wedding – but Jo really, really wanted to talk to him. Right now. "Where is he now?" she asked.

"He's in the room right off the altar. Don't worry, he's all set."

"I wasn't worried, just checking," Jo kept her voice smooth. "But hey, could you look and see if Zoe and Carter are here yet? They were right behind us, so I'm not sure what's keeping them."

"Oh, sure," Rob pulled open the door, but glancing over his shoulder, added, "I'm really happy for you, Jo. And I know one way or another, you're going to make me an uncle – I'm looking forward to it!"

Jo just smiled at him, but the second he was gone, she scrambled for her cell phone. Pulling it out, she hit redial. It rang twice, and then went straight into Zane's voice mail. Again. How many times in a row had this been? Why didn't the man ever answer his phone? Argh! She looked at the display, thinking hard. What to do, what to do?

Hmm, three missed calls: automatically, she clicked through. Ah, drat, Rostand had been trying to reach her – she still hadn't managed to find out what he had to tell her. But right now she had more important things to think about.

Quickly she pulled up the marauder's map app, dialing in and reciting the password. She typed Zane's name, looked for him, and then cursed under her breath. Damn him. He'd left his phone at GD. No wonder he hadn't been answering.

She sighed, biting her lip. She could ask someone to get him, have him come back here – but was that the right thing to do? Would it help?

"Hey, Jo, I'm so sorry we're late," Zoe rushed into the room, a whirlwind of energy and color in a vibrant burgundy cocktail-length dress. "My dad had to stop and help some stranded motorist. Like, priorities, dad."

"It's my job, Zoe," the note of exasperation in Carter's voice as he followed Zoe into the room let Jo know that it wasn't the first time he'd made the same comment. "I'm the sheriff, I can't just drive by someone who looks like they're in trouble."

Jo tried to smile. "It's not a problem. We didn't start without you." Zoe was looking around for a place to stow her bag and Jo, still clutching her phone, pointed out the cupboard that Reverend Harper had told them they could use.

"Speaking of someone who looks like they're in trouble," Carter said slowly, looking intently at Jo's face, "You're not looking so good."

"Dad!" Zoe protested, turning back to him. "What a thing to say!"

"I mean – sorry, sorry," Carter said hastily. "I mean you look amazing. That dress – wow." He gestured with open arms. "You're going to knock his socks off. Everyone's socks off. Totally stunning." He looked at Zoe. "Better?"

"Better," she confirmed wryly.

"Now, what's wrong?" he finished, turning back to Jo.

Despite her stomach-churning worry, Jo couldn't resist chuckling. "Thank you, Carter," she said pointedly. "For the compliments, I mean."

"And what is wrong?" Zoe asked. Jo could see from her intent look that although she hadn't noticed anything amiss when she'd first come in, she could see it now, and would be just as persistent as Carter in trying to find out the truth. But Zoe wasn't in on the time travel, so she couldn't be told about the quantum decoherence.

"I just – I'm worried." Jo finally said.

"About?" Zoe asked.

"The explosion earlier this week." Jo looked directly at Carter, and he glanced at Zoe. "The one that destroyed Zane's project."

"Oh," was Zoe's puzzled response, but Carter added, "But didn't Zane figure that out?"

"Hey, Jo," Fargo stuck his head in the door. "I was sent back to see what's keeping you. We're all ready up front and Reverend Harper's waiting."

"We're almost set, Fargo," Zoe answered. "But Jo's worrying about that explosion at GD for some reason."

"Ah, right," Fargo stepped into the room, looking from Jo to Carter, clearly wondering what Zoe knew. He was wearing a dark grey tux, with a vest and a burgundy tie and Jo couldn't help smiling at the sight: he looked terrific.

"I thought Zane had decided it was sono – sonolumin – that sound thing," Carter said.

"What?" Fargo asked. "I hadn't heard that." He glanced toward the front of the church. "Huh, that could – wow, yeah, that could work. The explosion at GD was more destructive than the one in Kwon's barn, but that could be because of the enclosed space. In the barn, the wall was basically vaporized, so the force of the explosion could move outward, but GD walls are meant to withstand high-level explosions. Yes, it could definitely be sonoluminscence. Henry's going to be thrilled – he'll like that explanation a lot better than -" he stumbled to a stop as he glanced at Zoe.

"Would that – could there be any side effects from an explosion like that?" Jo asked.

Fargo looked confused. "Um, no?" he offered. "Not that I can think of." He scratched his head. "We don't know very much about it. I guess the interesting question would be who could have done it if that was what it was." He frowned, looking thoughtful.

"Does that bring us back to sabotage?" Carter asked.

"Yeah, no one's setting off a sonoluminscent explosion accidentally," Fargo confirmed. "If it was that easy, people would know how to do it by now. And we really don't, which – hmm, so Zane thought it was sonoluminscence? I wonder why he didn't…" he looked back to the front of the church as if he wanted to go ask Zane about it right away.

"Jo?" Her father was in the doorway. "All set? Or, you know, you can still cancel," he added gruffly.

"Dad," Jo couldn't help laughing in protest. She looked around the room, at her closest friends, and took a deep breath. Decision time.

"I'm not canceling," she said firmly. She gestured with the back of one hand at Carter and Fargo to tell them to move along. "Go to your places," she ordered. "And tell the organist to start the music. Zoe will start walking in a minute."

Carter grinned, and Fargo nodded, still looking thoughtful, but they both left. Jo turned to Zoe, who beamed at her. Giving her a quick hug, Zoe said, "Congratulations, Jo. You're going to be really happy, I know it."

Jo took another deep breath and nodded. She was still worried. She knew something was wrong, she only wished she could figure out what it was. But she was getting married anyway.

Zoe headed for the door, and then said, "Oops," and came back and grabbed the small bouquet of mixed burgundy and cream roses that was waiting for her on a side table. She passed Jo her larger arrangement, with ribbons trailing down, and then said, "Showtime!" and started walking.

"You look beautiful, Josefina," Joseph's voice was still gruff, but Jo knew that the emotion was different this time. He swallowed hard. "Your mother would be so proud."

Bouquet in hand, Jo reached up and kissed his cheek wordlessly. Then she took his arm and together they followed Zoe.

Walking down the aisle, Jo tried to remind herself to breathe. All around her were smiles, fond looks, loving gazes, good wishes. She spotted co-workers, neighbors, friends from all her years in Eureka. Vincent was dabbing at his eyes, and Taggart's smile was a little stiff, but it was a smile, and that was enough. Her brothers were beaming at her, of course, the twins with identical smiles and identical uniforms, and Rob in his dress uniform, and Zane was beaming at her, too.

He looked wonderful in his tux. She'd never seen him dressed up before, never even seen him with a tie, and she'd wondered whether he'd look stiff and uncomfortable. But he didn't. He looked handsome and elegant. And incredibly, incredibly hot. And he was gazing at her with a look of such love – she felt herself melting.

Of course everything was okay.

There was nothing to worry about.

Right?

They reached the altar, and for just a moment, Jo's hand clenched on her father's arm. She looked up at him and forced a smile. Over his shoulder, she saw Diana. She was smiling, but her blue eyes were dark with worry and she met Jo's glance with a steadiness that Jo found oddly reassuring. She wasn't the only one who thought there was something wrong. But what could it be?

Almost reluctantly, Jo let her father go. She turned to Zoe and handed her the bouquet, trying to let Zoe's bright excitement spark some of her own. But as she turned to Zane, she knew she looked more serious than a bride should.

He reached out to her, as Reverend Harper had instructed yesterday, and as the Reverend began to speak, Jo opened her hands to place them in his, but she couldn't meet his gaze, not the way she was feeling, and so she looked down as she reached for him.

His hands closed around hers, and she blinked. His hands. She looked up at his doting gaze, and then turned her head and looked at her brothers. Her twin brothers. _His hands._

Reverend Harper was speaking but Jo didn't hear a word. She pulled her hands back, out of Zane's clasp, and away, and looked at his hands as he held them out to her. Where the hell was the cut? The one that had dripped blood all over his lab just five days ago? There wasn't a mark on his hands, not even a scar. And no one healed that fast. Not even at GD.

She looked up at him. His face was puzzled, and his mouth started moving to say something, but before he could get out a word, she said, "You're a fucking evil twin. Where the hell is the real Zane?"


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen**

_Friday, late afternoon_

Emily Glenn's marmosets were unhappy.

Some scientists – perhaps even most – would not have cared about the happiness of their lab animals. But Emily was troubled by the marmosets' distress.

They weren't pets. Of course not. She was a scientist. She would never dream of making pets out of her lab animals. That said, she knew her marmosets as well as any dog or cat owners knew their animals and she recognized agitation when she saw it.

"What's wrong, Antonin?" she crooned to the oldest male. He opened his mouth partway and stared at her and she frowned, recognizing his signal of alarm. Then he closed his mouth and started clicking, a staccato sound that got louder and louder. The other marmosets responded and she shook her head. She hadn't been able to figure out why they were so unhappy, but they'd been doing this for at least the past twenty-four hours. Something was clearly bothering them.

_Hmm. _She glanced at her watch. Walking outside her lab, she tried the door to the lab on the other side of the marmosets' enclosure. Locked, of course.

Twenty minutes later, she was still arguing with the guard at the security station. "Look, all I want is for you to unlock the door and let me check whether something is making noise in there."

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to do that. You need to call the scientist whose lab it is."

"I can't do that," Emily repeated patiently. "I won't touch his work, I promise. I just need to see whether something in his lab is upsetting my marmosets."

"We don't unlock doors, ma'am."

"But you're capable of it?"

"Well, yes, of course. But we're not allowed to."

"But you could do it, if you wanted to."

"No, ma'am, I can't. It's against the rules." The guard's frustration with Emily's persistence was becoming more and more evident. He sighed with relief at the sight of another guard approaching. "Tell her, Rostand," he pleaded. "We can't unlock locked labs."

"I really don't believe that Dr. Donovan will mind if I look in his lab. And I am sure that he'll mind it much less than Ms. Lupo will mind us interrupting her wedding for the sake of my marmosets," Emily explained again, glancing at her watch. She was supposed to be at the wedding in the very near future, and she'd hoped to have time to go home and change her clothes. But she really couldn't leave her marmosets when they were so unhappy.

"But I can't, ma'am. It's against the rules."

"Dr. Donovan's lab?" asked Rostand.

"One of them, yes," Emily sighed. "As far as I know he was the last person to use it. It was when he was building the SkyCruiser. No one's used it since, but my marmosets are reacting to something and the only thing I can think of is that they're hearing something on the other side of that wall. I just want to check."

"I'll let you in," Rostand nodded, and reached over the desk to grab a handheld security wand.

"Rostand," protested the other guard.

"I've been trying to talk to Lupo for days. If this is what finally gets her attention, fine by me. Besides…" Rostand let the words trail off. "Come on." He was already halfway down the hall, so Emily hastily followed him, although not without first directing a slightly guiltily triumphant smile to the other guard.

Rostand used the wand to unlock the door without ceremony and shoving the door open, entered the lab. The noise was immediately obvious, a rhythmic thumping from a low cabinet on the wall next to Emily's lab.

"I said I wouldn't touch anything," Emily frowned.

"Hell with that," said Rostand. He strode across the lab and pulled open the cabinet. Zane promptly rolled out, duct tape around his legs, his hands, and covering his mouth.

"Oh, how nice," said Emily.

Rostand was already searching for something to cut the duct tape, but Zane's look at Emily clearly showed that he was startled by her words.

"Oh, not for you, of course." She knelt next to him and pulled out a sonic scalpel. Turning it on, she began very carefully slicing through the tape on first his hands, and then his feet. "But I was worried about missing the wedding and with you here, that seems unlikely."

"I wouldn't count on that," muttered Rostand, returning to watch.

Zane had closed in eyes in a grimace of pain as the release of the duct tape let him stretch his muscles for the first time in hours, but he opened them at Rostand's words.

Emily sat back on her heels, looking at the duct tape across Zane's mouth. "Would you prefer fast and painful or slow and painless?" she asked. "Because I could go find a painkiller for you, before tackling that tape on your mouth, and that might be –"

Before she could finish the sentence, Zane had reached up and ripped the tape off.

"Well, that answers that," said Emily. She looked at Zane, considering, and then stood and left the room.

Rubbing his wrists, Zane pushed himself to a sitting position. "What do you know?" he rasped out to Rostand.

"There are two of you, aren't there?" Rostand asked.

Zane rubbed his unshaven face and nodded. "It must have been a wormhole," he said. "Somehow he came here from another universe."

"I don't think so," Rostand shook his head. Zane looked at him questioningly. "I've been trying to tell Ms. Lupo for days. On the night of the explosion, you left the lab twice."

"A wormhole could have –" Zane started.

Rostand was shaking his head. "Before the explosion. You left the lab twice before the explosion."

Zane thought about that.

"Who went into the lab only once?" It was the obvious question.

"The robot." Rostand's answer was immediate.

Zane shook his head in disbelief. "But that – that makes no sense. He's a robot. How could he -?"

Emily was back, carrying two bottles of water, and an apple. She unscrewed the cap on the first bottle of water and passed it to Zane. Wordlessly, he took it, and drank half of it without pause. If he hadn't been madly in love with Jo, he would have fallen in love with Emily on the spot. Water, cold water, was a miracle.

Emily glanced at her watch. "Do you have a change of clothes at GD, Dr. Donovan?"*

"Ah, yes?" he said, not quite sure why she was asking the question. "I sleep here sometimes so yeah, I keep extra clothes in the SkyCruiser lab. Why?"

"Well, if I'm understanding this situation correctly, a robot has stolen your identity and locked you up in here. Presumably, he – or should I call it an it? Hmm. Well, I suppose if it thinks it's a him than it would respectful to allow it to choose how it wants to be addressed. Although does one need to be respectful to robots? Not that it's bad to be respectful to anyone, but – oh, but wait." She paused and re-focused. "Yes, my point is actually that your wedding is only ten minutes from now. So you might want to get to the church as quickly as possible. And, um, no offense, but clean clothes might be in order."

"Ten minutes?" Zane choked out the words. "We need to call Jo."

"Well, we could try that," Emily agreed. "But Reverend Harper asks everyone to turn their phones off as they come into the church. And she's probably wearing a wedding gown, which is unlikely to offer a convenient pocket with which to carry a phone. But I will certainly try to call her…"

Rostand was shaking his head. "I've been trying to call her all day," he said gloomily. "She hasn't been answering her phone at all."**

Zane scrambled to his feet. Ten minutes. Ten crazy minutes. This was – impossible. "Call Dr. Calvin," he ordered Emily. "Ask her – no, tell her – to meet us at the church. Her crazy robot has not been blown up, but she's going to need to figure out what to do with him now."

_* It is insanely pragmatic of me to be concerned with this, but if Zane has been tied up since Wednesday night, that's 40+ hours. Not only is he desperately thirsty, but no one has that much bladder control. And while I do intend that he show up to the wedding in blue jeans, smelly blue jeans would be unpleasant, I think. So that's why the pause to change clothes – it's not as random as it seems, just a little OCD on my part._

_** And speaking of OCD, could someone please compliment me for how cleverly I have managed the question of why they didn't just call Jo and clear everything up immediately? The amount of time I put into that one question was - well, obsessive. I suspect only FireEthereal would have called me on it, but still, I need a back pat for it! _


	20. Chapter 20

_A/N: If my chapters had titles, this one would be called "Chaos Ensued." I believe I strongly implied at some point that this would be the last chapter. It won't be, and I'm sure you'll see why when you get to the end. Suggestions welcome (and damn Diana - this should have been a whole lot easier!) _

**Chapter Twenty**

_Back at the church_

Jo barely heard the shocked "Jo!" from Reverend Harper, the horrified "Jo!" from Zoe, or the puzzled "Jo?" from Fargo. And the noise of the rest of her audience as they turned to one another asking what she'd just said and what had just happened didn't even register.

The look of betrayal and pain in Zane's eyes was heart-breaking and for a moment Jo wavered. Had she just made the worst mistake of her life? But no, she was right, she was sure of it. Now she just had to figure out why, how, who – and the most important question of all…

"Where the hell is the real Zane?" Jo repeated steadily.

The fake Zane stepped toward her and Jo took a couple of hasty steps backwards – not easy to do in a wedding gown, but she didn't want him touching her.

She couldn't tell which of her brothers jumped to his feet first, because they were like a line of jack-in-the-boxes all going off at once. But Nick was closest and he was the one who stepped forward and put a hand on Zane's arm, with a firm, but not unfriendly, "Back off, she doesn't want you to touch her."

An untrained scientist who occasionally spars with his girlfriend for fun versus a Green Beret is a no-contest situation. So when Zane broke free, pulling his arm loose from Nick's grasp with graceful ease, the expression of shock on Nick's face was priceless. And it probably wasn't surprising that he over-reacted just a little, grabbing Zane's arm and bending it up behind his back, forcing his hand toward his neck in a hammerlock.

It was surprising, however, when Zane broke his hold effortlessly, then turned and drove a hard punch into Nick's stomach, following it up with a hit to the shoulder that sent Nick reeling backward into his brother.

"Oh, hell," Jo muttered. She really wasn't dressed for this. "Move, move," she ordered, turning to Zoe and Reverend Harper. Reverend Harper's mouth was just beginning to drop open in shock, and Jo grabbed her hand and pulled her hastily out of the way as the scene at the altar became a melee. With Nick hit and going down, Marco and Rob automatically circled and dropped into fighting stances, even as Zane began to turn back to Jo.

"Jo, I love you," he said, voice desperate, as Marco jumped him from the back, wrapping an arm around his throat. But Jo was hurrying Zoe and Reverend Harper down the aisle.

"Jo, what's going on?" Zoe's voice was fascinated, and she was on tip toes, resisting moving, looking over Jo's shoulder.

"God knows," Jo shook her head, and turned back. They were halfway down the aisle, which was probably far enough to be safe.

"This is a house of worship!" Reverend Harper's tones of dismay and shock weren't nearly enough to stop the fight at the altar, although perhaps nothing would have been. People were starting to stand and move around, some wide-eyed with shock, others not restraining grins and laughter.

Taggart leaned back in his pew, and said, tone fascinated, "Zane's tougher than I thought. Wish I'd brought popcorn."

"That's not Zane," Jo snapped, glaring at Taggart.

"Sure looks like him."

Zoe slipped into the pew next to Taggart, and leaned forward, with arms propped on the back of the seat in front of her, to get a better view. Fargo had backed away from the fight and was in the side aisle while Carter was up and circling toward the front of the church. Diana was moving down her pew, headed toward Jo while Zane's dad was grinning and climbing over the people next to him to join the fight. Alison had Jenna in her arms and Kevin was jumping up and down, cheering on Zane.

"Oh my God." A gasping, out-of-breath woman rushed down the aisle and came to a stop next to Jo. "When Dr. Glenn called, she said to get here as quickly as possible. But where's Don?"

"Don?" Jo looked back at the altar just in time to see Nick joining in the fight again, and her father stepping forward as well. "That's your robot?"

"Well, it doesn't look like him," Dr. Calvin was catching her breath. "But I suppose if he was re-skinned, it could be." She winced as fake Zane took a hard kick to the side, grabbed the offending leg, and threw Nick in the air.

"Could he re-skin himself?" Jo asked, remembering the video of Don going into the lab, carrying boxes. What had he had in those boxes?

"I suppose so," Dr. Calvin glanced at Jo. "But why? What would he –" A loud crash as the lectern toppled over interrupted her.

Reverend Harper took two steps forward, her attention still focused on the brawl and ordered, "Stop this," using her loudest, most carrying voice. Nick, Marco, and Zane took no notice, but Rob and Joseph paused, exchanging glances.

Jo grabbed the Reverend's arm and pulled her back, then shaking her head with resignation, hiked up her skirt for a second and pulled out the gun that she had strapped to her thigh.

"You wore a gun to our wedding? That's a little paranoid, don't you think?" Jo looked over her shoulder at the sound of Zane's disgruntled voice. He was unshaven and disheveled, wearing a black t-shirt and blue jeans.

"And yet," she drawled, grinning at him, "Here we are. Ya never know when you'll want a weapon. And where the hell have you been?" Taking care with the gun, she leaned forward and gave him a fierce hug, luxuriating for a brief second in the feel of him, before she pulled away.

"Locked in an unused lab at GD. Since Wednesday!" He stared up at the fight. "I hope your brothers do some serious damage."

"Since Wednesday?" Jo was stunned. "But how the hell did he know so much? We – he –" she was remembering the pleasant afternoon spent by the fire at Café Diem.

"It was Grace's PTSD device," Zane said. "It stopped working sometime yesterday, I think, but until then, he was using it to access my memories."

Diana had reached them and was smiling at Zane. She glanced from him to the Zane at the front of the room, and said, "He may have had your memories, but he definitely didn't have your personality. I thought I'd like it if you stopped fighting with your father, but as it turns out, it was a little too peaceful for me." Reaching up, she brushed a kiss across his cheek, and he hugged her with one arm.

"Losing the PTSD device must have been why he was rubbing his neck before dinner," Jo remembered. "Maybe it fell off or the pressure of the helmet broke it?"

"Or it could have run out of power," Zane shrugged. "I doubt Grace intended it to be used non-stop."

"Sharing memories with him was supposed to enable him to help you in your project, not turn him into some pyscho robot monster," Dr. Calvin said bitterly.

"This is not my fault," Zane snapped back. "Seeing a few of my memories should have been fine. Would have been fine, if there wasn't something seriously wrong with your programming. What's the idea of letting your robot try to steal my life?"

"Let's focus, people," Jo flicked the safety off her gun and fell into her favorite shooting stance, both hands on the gun, body slightly turned away from her target. "Where do I shoot it for maximum damage?" she asked Dr. Calvin.

"No! That's a prototype of an organic computer in a robotic body. Don't damage it!"

"An organic computer? Like a… a biological mainframe?"

"Yes, exactly. It's based on neural net architecture. Instead of circuits and wires, it processes information using living cells."

"That's how it could use the PTSD device," Zane explained. "But it still shouldn't have been able to do this," he glared at Dr. Calvin.

"It wasn't my programming," Dr. Calvin defended herself. "My work is on the hardware. I used Dr. Fargo's programming."

"What?" Fargo had circled around the back of the church to join them, and had heard enough to understand what was going on. "I didn't program a robot to go crazy and try to marry Jo."

"I copied Andy's software," Dr. Calvin explained. "No point reinventing the wheel. Andy works fine."

"You copied – oh…" Zane's voice trailed off.

"What?" Four demanding voices at once asked the question, as Jo, Diana, Fargo, and Dr. Calvin all looked at him.

"I – um – let Andy keep the emotional attachment patch," Zane looked sheepish. "What?" he said defensively. "He and SARAH are happy together."

"So let me get this straight," Jo said slowly, shaking her head. "You shared your memories with a robot that had an emotional attachment patch and it decided to take over your life?"

"I only meant to share the memories that had to do with the project. But some of those involved you, too." They exchanged a long glance, and Jo felt herself go slightly pink as she tried to imagine what memories might have slipped through.

"Okay, that's creepy," she said firmly. She hadn't stopped aiming, so she returned her attention to the front of the room. It was going to be tough to get a clear shot until she could get her brothers to back off – she'd need to catch the perfect moment.

"If the computer is organic, and it has both artificial intelligence and emotions, does that make it alive?" Diana's voice was thoughtful.

Fargo frowned, Dr. Calvin paled, and Zane shrugged. Jo paused. She sighed. Putting the safety back on, she hiked up her skirt again, and returned the gun to its holster strapped on her thigh.

Diana was smiling. "You have a baby brother, Zane. You always wanted one."

"That is not my brother!" Zane was horrified.

"He looks a lot like you," Diana murmured, eyes narrowed. "How did he do that?"

"If he had a sample of your DNA, he could have created a skin that was an exact match," Dr. Calvin said.

"Let's get back to the important question," Jo winced as Marco took a hit. "What are we going to do about him?"

At that moment, she and everyone else ducked automatically at the sound of a loud blast. Up at the altar, fake Zane staggered, a look of shock on his face. Seconds passed while he seemed to shiver, and then he began to fall, his body twitching. Diana gasped in horror, and Dr. Calvin moaned.

"This is a church," Reverend Harper's voice was horrified and this time Jo didn't try to hold her back as she rushed forward.

"Sorry, ma'am." Rob was holding a shotgun. Wires reached from the gun to fake Zane's back. "Cuff him, quick," he said to Carter. "It's just a taser, ma'am," he said to Reverend Harper. "Sorry to borrow your wedding present, Jo."

"You got me the 12-gauge extended range electronic projectile?" Jo grinned at him. "What a great brother you are."

"I didn't really think I'd be using it on your boyfriend," Rob admitted, "But I knew you wanted one."

"So what do we do with him?" Carter asked, as fake Zane began to stir.

Jo looked around the room. No one seemed to have an answer.


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

_"So what do we do with him?" Carter asked, as fake Zane began to stir._

_Jo looked around the room. No one seemed to have an answer._

"Perhaps, for the moment, jail?" suggested Diana, looking thoughtfully at fake Zane, who didn't seem to be making any attempt to break free.

"Ah, that's a good idea," Carter responded enthusiastically. "Andy can take him down to the office."

"Um, not such a good idea," Zane interjected. When Carter and Diana looked at him, he shrugged. "I'd rather not have a lookalike me running around."

"Which means what?" Jo frowned at him. She'd never thrown him in jail, but her alter-ego had locked him up in the cell more times than she could count. On behalf of her other self, she was going to be annoyed if he'd just been playing her.

He shrugged again. "Ninety minutes tops."

"Ninety minutes to do what?" asked Carter. When Zane just grinned at him, he rolled his eyes. "Oh, that's just great. That Ithaca lock is supposed to be the best on the planet."

"It is. But I'm better." Jo whacked him gently, part annoyance, part protest of his arrogance, while he continued, "And if I am, he probably is, too." He scowled at his lookalike, who was still face down, not moving.

"What about the cell at GD?" asked Fargo.

"That one's a lot tougher," Zane agreed. "It's probably safe."

At Fargo's words, Rostand had started walking toward the front of the church. "With Andy's help, I can take him back to GD," he offered. "I'm supposed to be on duty there, anyway."

"Rostand? Why – " Jo looked from Rostand to Zane and put the pieces together. "Thank you," she said simply, letting the thanks stand, she hoped, for both his current offer of help and whatever it was he had done at GD.

He nodded. Carter pulled out his phone and called Andy, who was on duty at the sheriff's office.

"Great," Dr. Calvin said with relief. "Once we get him to GD, I'll start the memory wipe."

"No!" Diana exclaimed, her vehemence surprising Jo. "No," she repeated a little more gently. She glanced at Fargo. "I'm sure I'm not the only one who wants to know more about how that explosion happened. Am I correct, Dr. Fargo?"

"Oh, right," Fargo nodded in hasty agreement. "Yes, we definitely need to learn how he did that. If it was sonoluminescence, physicists have been working on it for years."

"It was," Zane confirmed. "He told me so, right before he knocked me out and tied me up."

"He only met me on Sunday," Jo pointed out. "It can't have been that hard to figure out if he had it ready to go less than twenty-four hours later."

"Interesting." Diana's look was again thoughtful, as she crouched next to the fake Zane and began helping him up.

"If he figured out how to do it, I can, too," Zane suggested.

"Not the point, dear. I want to talk to him. But right now is not the time." Andy had arrived, and he and Rostand stepped forward to help Diana get the fake Zane to his feet and begin escorting him out.

After the first moment, Jo looked away. It was obvious that he wasn't human: the fight hadn't left a mark on him – no blood, no bruises, no sweat – he was barely even disheveled. But the look of pain on his face was real, and he looked so very much like Zane. There wasn't anything she could do to make it better, and he was only a robot, she reminded herself – but still, she couldn't look at him. So she looked at her Zane instead, and her eyes narrowed.

"You look good in a tux," she said pointedly, glancing back at fake Zane.

He looked down at himself, at his black t-shirt and blue jeans.

She raised an eyebrow. She knew they were both thinking of her promise on Sunday: that if he showed up to the wedding in blue jeans, she would not be marrying him.

"Jo," he started, stepping closer to her, his voice husky.

She waited, head cocked. What would he say? Her first Zane would have been defensive, would have said "But I was locked in a lab!" or "But I was kidnapped!" or "But he stole my tux!" all of which were pretty darn good excuses when it came right down to it. This Zane knew women better, though, (not that that wasn't a little annoying in itself) so he'd probably just apologize quickly.

It didn't matter, not really. She had every intention of marrying him within the next ten minutes. But he'd put her through hell in the last week, and it might be time for some of that groveling that she hadn't insisted on when she'd found him in her office Monday morning.

"I…" He actually looked worried, so Jo relented without waiting for whatever it was that he would have said.

She put one hand on his t-shirted chest, over his heart, feeling the warmth and the rhythm under her palm. "The next time we bicker about whose turn it is to wash the dishes, I'm going to remind you that you wore blue jeans to our wedding. And you're going to get to wash the dishes," she told him. "And when we have a baby and he wakes up in the middle of the night and needs his diaper changed –"

"She," Zane interrupted her. He put his hands on her hips and pulled her a little closer to him. "When we have a baby and she wakes up and needs her diaper changed, you get to say I wore blue jeans to our wedding, and I will get up and change her diaper." His eyes were serious, but Jo was starting to smile. She let her hand slide up, over his shoulder and around his neck and linked it with her other hand so that her arms were around his neck, bending his head to hers.

"Fifty years from now, you can wear a tux to our wedding anniversary, and I will officially stop holding it against you that you wore blue jeans to our wedding," she promised him as she drew him closer.

"It's a deal," he whispered, mouth only an inch from hers, before he took her lips with his. His kiss quickly brought her to breathlessness, the heat rising within her until she was lost in a cloud of relief, love, and desire, her lips parting under his and their tongues dancing together, as she pressed closer and closer to him, loving the feel of his warmth and his solid strength.

"Ahem." Reverend Harper's dry cough pulled them apart but her eyes were warm. "Shall we try again?"

Jo looked around. While she'd been engrossed in that kiss, the lectern had been restored, the mess cleaned up, their audience had returned to their seats and all was as it had been such a short time earlier. Except that her brothers looked a little the worse for wear – Marco sporting a truly dramatic black eye – and Diana's eyes were no longer worried, but warm with joy, and Zane, t-shirt, blue jeans, unshaven and disheveled – Zane was this Zane, her Zane, now and forever the right Zane.

"We'll get it right this time," Zane promised the Reverend and Jo knew that that was as important a promise as any other they were going to make that day. This time, they would get it right.

With clear voices and hands clasped firmly together, they made the rest of their promises until at last came the moment that everyone was waiting for and Reverend Harper pronounced them husband and wife. And then…well, since the invention of the kiss, there have been five kisses that were rated most passionate, most pure. This one came awfully close.

_A/N: I might change the last line or last couple paragraphs later, but I'm squeezing this in between exams and I have to post it so I can let go and get some work done. Feel free to say that it's too obscure a cross-over joke (or not, if it's not!) _

_Thanks for reading! _


	22. Epilogue

_A/N: As I wrote this chapter I was stuck on two questions. The first I think of as the Julia problem – how do you redeem a character who has done something really unpleasant? The second was – and what's the point? Fake Zane and Zane's mom can't stay in Eureka, so giving them an epilogue all for their own seemed kind of pointless. But Diana – well, her voice just would not get out of my head. The real story ends at the wedding, though! _

**Epilogue**

_Later that evening_

His head was down, his shoulders slumped. Diana reminded herself firmly that just because he looked like Zane didn't mean he was like Zane. No, he was some weird amalgam of Andy and Zane – a combination that made the day she and Henry had spent with him much more comprehensible, even if no less odd.

He looked up at the sound of the door sliding open and despite the reminder she'd just given herself, Diana had to blink twice to stop herself from showing a reaction to that sulky face. She felt the same mix of exasperation and love she'd felt when summoned to pick him up after he'd been expelled from MIT. And Yale. Not so much Cornell, though, that one really hadn't been his fault, and she'd felt more righteous rage than exasperation that time. _Robot, _she reminded herself. Still, he was a robot with her son's memories, and that was…interesting.

"Aren't you supposed to be at a wedding reception?" he asked, and his voice was exactly as sulky as his expression. Diana pressed her lips together to hold back the smile. _Robot! _She reminded herself again.

"I was there," Diana acknowledged. "But I find it hard to relax with unfinished business. And we have – well, let's call it unfinished business."

He shrugged. "Plug me into a terminal and I'll download everything I know about sonoluminescence." He looked away.

Diana's eyes narrowed. "I'm actually more interested in the attempted murder than the explosion."

"What?" His eyes shot back to her as he stood up hastily, almost knocking over the stool he was sitting on. "I didn't try to murder anyone!"

"My son?" Diana said pointedly. "The guy you locked up in a cupboard for two days? The one whose identity you tried to steal?"

"I wasn't going to kill him." Fake Zane sounded scornful, exactly the way real Zane did when he thought someone was being stupid.

She raised her eyebrows. "And what exactly were you going to do with him after you copied his face, stole his identity, and married his girlfriend?"

Fake Zane sighed. "Send him to Australia." He slumped back down onto the stool he'd been sitting on. "The two days in the cupboard – that was kind of an accident. I didn't expect him to show up Wednesday night, but when he did…well, it was too good an opportunity to miss."

"Australia?"

"I debated trying to find someplace without extradition laws, but the terrorist watch list would work just as well, and Australia is a hell of a lot more comfortable than North Korea."

Diana paused. Okay, that was a surprise. _Extradition? Terrorist watch list? _What was he talking about? "Extradition?" she asked carefully. "Why would that apply?"

Fake Zane frowned. "It was my escape plan, originally. There's a cargo shipment headed to Australia tomorrow morning, and I've got the redaction paperwork ready to go. It's a fake identity, of course, but I put the name on the terrorist watch list. If Dr. Calvin tried to get me, she'd have to battle it out with Homeland Security. She couldn't do that without admitting a lot of top-secret information. And first she'd have to find me. But when I changed plans, I figured it'd work just as well to keep him in Australia for a while. He'd have found a way back eventually, but – well, it doesn't matter. I screwed up." He looked away again, his face pained.

"That would be one way to put it," Diana agreed wryly. She was getting the picture – all the pieces were finally starting to make sense. "So you had the explosion already planned before you met Jo?"

He nodded.

"And you met her…" she prompted.

"She was mad at him," he burst out, "—and he, he had this amazing person at home, but all he was doing was working all the time. He was – " his voice trailed off and when he added, shaking his head, "…so stupid," Diana wasn't sure whether he was referring to himself or Zane.

"So you were escaping from Dr. Calvin?" she prompted again.

"She wants to kill me! I'm just an experiment to her. She told him that she couldn't wait to open up my brain and find out how the neural network had progressed because of the memory device. I knew then that I had to get away." He sighed.

Diana stayed quiet, her expression thoughtful.

"The explosion was self-defense, really," he offered. "Not that it matters, anyway. It's not as if I'm going to get a trial."

"I don't know about that."

He looked back at her, eyes alert. "You could let me go," he suggested. "I can't break out from inside, but it'd take you ten minutes, max, to hack the system from out there."

"Mmm, that'd be one approach," Diana agreed. "Messy, though. Where are the redaction papers?"

"Really?" He stood, hands pressing against the glass. "You'll help me?"

"I haven't decided yet," she admitted. "What are you going to do if I get you out of here?"

"Go to Australia, I guess."

"You're not going to –" she paused, looking for a delicate way to phrase the question, but he understood immediately.

"Try to win the girl?" His smile was sad. "No. She made her choice. And … I just wanted to make her happy. I thought I could."

Diana nodded. "Redaction papers?" she asked again.

He gave her directions to where they were stored, and just a few minutes later, she was flipping through them thoughtfully. He'd named himself Miles Dyson*, she noted, and given himself a solid background that would get him a job as a computer scientist. He'd have no trouble in Australia. If, that is, she let him go there. She sighed. _Decisions, decisions._ It seemed like such a waste… her eyes narrowed thoughtfully, as she considered the idea she'd just had. Finally, she began to smile, pulling out her phone.

A solid twenty minutes later, she said, exasperated, "Dr. Fargo, do you really want to have to explain to a congressional subcommittee on ethics what exactly it is about your programming that has caused more than one robot to fall in love with my daughter-in-law?" Okay, it was fighting dirty, but really, why was he being stubborn about this?

"Uh, no, not really." His voice didn't squeak. He simply sounded resigned. He must be getting used to her.

"You've already reported that the robot was destroyed in the explosion: all you have to do is not update that report. It's not even lying, it's just skipping a little paperwork."

Fargo sighed. "You know, I honestly think I'm beginning to understand Zane a little better. Are you coming back to the reception soon?"

"I'm working on a new set of paperwork, so as soon as you agree with my idea, I can wrap things up here, and head back over there. It sounds as if it's going well?" She could hear music and the noise of happy party-goers in the background.

"Oh, yeah. And the food is incredible. But, uh, Jo's father and Zane's father seem to be in a competition to see who can do the most shots of tequila: I'm not sure it's going to end well."

Diana closed her eyes in resignation. That sounded so like Henry…ah, well. Not tonight, because that would be awkward, but from here on out, he'd have an able-bodied assistant to carry him home. "So we're agreed?"

"I think you're crazy, but all right, go ahead," Fargo sighed. "Just – if it ends badly – please keep GD out of it."

"It's not going to end badly," she promised him. "But I'll come up with a cover story just in case."

Smiling, she finished up the paperwork and headed back to the cell where Fake Zane was waiting. He was standing this time, and had clearly been pacing the few short steps of the small room, but he looked at her as the door opened, eyes wary and then hopeful as he saw her expression.

"You're going to let me go to Australia?" he asked eagerly.

"No." She shook her head but as his face fell, she typed in the code for the lock and let the door slide open. She held out the folder of papers she was carrying and waited for him to step close enough to take it, then pulled out the keys to her rental car. "You'll have to drop me off at the reception first, but then you can take the car to Portland. There'll be a plane ticket waiting for you at the American ticket counter in the airport."

"But – if I stay in the United States, they'll catch me in no time."

"Catch who?" she said cheerfully. "Don was destroyed in the explosion."

"You're just going to let me leave?"

"Not exactly." She indicated the papers and as he flipped open the folder to take a look, she continued, "You chose family over freedom when you decided to try to marry Jo instead of escaping to Australia, so I thought that might be your choice again, if in a slightly different way. Or perhaps I'm punishing you for kidnapping my son. Being Henry's assistant is likely to have its challenges. But he's getting older, and he could use the help."

He looked up at her, expression stunned, "You gave me a new name."

"I didn't like the one you picked." She shrugged and smiled. "I think I'll call you Hank, if that's okay?"

"I – uh, yeah, that's – that's fine," Hank was still looking confused, as Diana put a hand on his elbow and started ushering him toward the door.

"We'll have to talk about whether you want to stay looking like Zane or change your look," she mused. "And although your paperwork says you'll be working for Henry, you're really going to be working for me – Henry's supposed to be on a low-cholesterol diet and he's terribly stubborn about it, so I could use your help with that…"

She had other ideas, too, lots of them – he was strong, smart, tireless, with an incredible memory, no need to eat or sleep – oh, yes, Hank was definitely going to be an asset for her work, too.

And meanwhile … well, Henry had always wanted a boy named after him.

_* I've been trying to work that cross-over joke in for the whole damn story and it just never fit anywhere! I really wanted Henry (the real Henry, not Zane's dad) to find the papers somehow, but that was too complicated for such a small joke. It would have been funny, though – and it would have been so appropriate. Dr. Calvin's line about the neural net architecture in Ch20 is actually a direct quote from Alison in Ship Happens, but Skynet is also described as a neural network. __Oh, and yes, Dr. Calvin is a reference to Asimov and I, Robot. (Also, Rostand is named after the security guard in Gross Pointe Blank –what can I say, I'm fond of the obscure cross-over jokes!)_

_I am pretty sure that this is the end of this alternate universe, since I am a happily-ever-after type and that generally means that wedding = ending. So I wanted to take this last chance to say thank you for reading and especially thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I wrote my very first chapter of my very first story because I was driven so mad by the ending of "I'll Be Seeing You" but pretty much every chapter after that - something like 40+ of them? - has been because of your encouragement! Thank you!_


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